Embers of an Uchiha
by Negligible1
Summary: From the smallest of sparks, the largest of blazes can be formed, and from the embers of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki shall rise.
1. A Dying Flame

******Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Chapter 1: A Dying Flame.**

Surrounded on all sides by crystal ice mirrors, turned into a pincushion by senbon needles, Sasuke didn't even realise that the Sharingan had burned to life in his eyes, dying the pitch black orbs a deadly red. He was starting to see the movements, movements that moments ago were too fast for him to even register. It was just a flicker at first, but now, now he could definitely see it.

He didn't spare the downed Naruto just behind him a glance, he couldn't afford it. Besides that blonde haired idiot was stupid to die… or so he hoped.

Instead he stared directly at where he _knew _his enemy was, inside the icy mirror. He knew it was the real one, unlike those reflections that surrounded him. This one was the genuine article.

"You are…" the masked ninja said, shocked at being picked out form amidst his reflection. This boy had followed his movements into this mirror, no doubt about it, and those red eyes staring at him, surrounded by a set of black tomoe. There was no doubt that this boy was like him "I see… you also possess a bloodline _'What a remarkable child. It's not complete, but to awaken it in the midst of a battle. This could be dangerous, my jutsu uses a lot of chakra, I can't maintain it forever, and if his eyes are starting to see my movements then… attacking head on could be dangerous… so…' _his hidden eyes came to rest on the blob of orange lying on the ground _'I'll use his ally, and draw him to me' _"This is the end!" without further ceremony he leapt from his mirror at incredible speed, needles ready in his hands.

It took Sasuke only a second to realise that the masked ninja's target wasn't him, but Naruto _'What? At Naruto?' _he shot forwards, his body just reacting _'Damn! Please make it in time.'_

But before he even reached them, Naruto was on his feet.

'_What?!'_

Naruto grabbed a needle wielding hand, the needle piercing through his palm but he didn't seem to notice. The masked ninja's other hand came around with needles, and Naruto wasn't quick enough to grab it this time. But Sasuke was.

The pain of the needles stabbing through his palm wasn't negligible, but he ignored it for now. They had the masked ninja trapped, unable to escape from their pincer like grasp on his hands. As one they drew a single kunai from their pouches, both moving on the same instinct. They stabbed forwards, giving the masked ninja no time to react, to kick at them, or to wrench free.

Naruto pierced the heart, Sasuke's the neck, it was in the moments after that Sasuke mused if that said something about their personalities. Naruto went for the heart, Sasuke the jugular. It was a moment after that that he realised what he had done, as the masked ninja's body spewed forth blood and went limp, falling from their grasp.

He had killed a man.

Sasuke always thought the first person he killed would be _that man_, he had never thought about killing anyone else, never even considered it. It was a part of being a ninja, it came with the job, but even so. He looked down at the blood soaked kunai he gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles had gone white. Well, whiter than usual. He relaxed his grip and let the kunai fall, no thought about cleaning it and keeping it occurring to him.

Glancing to his side he found Naruto staring seemingly at shock at something else altogether, the masked ninja's body.

He followed the blonde's gaze and found a fair, gentle face looking back with blank dead eyes. The stark, expressionless mask had fallen off when the corpse hit the ground, leaving the true face of their enemy revealed.

"Naruto" he said roughly, snapping the blonde from his stunned reverie "What?"

Naruto opened his mouth, a line of blood dripping down his face where he had grazed it during the battle, then he shut it and looked back at the corpse "This guy" he finally spoke "I knew him… I mean, I met him" Naruto told him "Before in the forest when I slept out there. He…" was that tears he saw in the blonde's eyes? "He didn't seem like a bad person" Naruto said, turning his back on Sasuke and trying and failing to surreptitiously wipe away the tears in his eyes.

Sasuke looked down and after a moment shrugged. He was the enemy, he would've killed them and while that might not make him a bad person they were on opposite sides of a battle field, and that was all that mattered in the end.

He was about to say just that when the sound of something cracking caught his attention. Looking around Sasuke watched as the mirrors shattered, the chakra that had sustained them was finally all used up and no one was around to give them more. The broken mirrors fell to the ground like a thousand shards of glittering glass falling from the heavens, a rain of crystal, a cascade of diamonds.

It was beautiful.

Naruto had taken a few steps away, his bright blue eyes wide to drink in as much of the spectacle as possible.

The Uchiha smirked at the sheer wonder and amazement on the blonde's face, he was such a child sometimes. Then he remembered Naruto standing up and striking back at the masked man and wondered if it had been planned, like Naruto's plan to free Kakashi, had Naruto lain there waiting, knowing that eventually the masked ninja would strike at him? Sasuke wouldn't put it past him.

So he was a child with the occasional flash of genius, the red eyed youth grinned at the thought.

"By the way" Naruto turned around to face him "What's with your eyes?"

"My eyes" Sasuke asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah, they're all weird."

"Weird? What do you…" Sasuke paused, his mind whirring away "Naruto describe them to me" he didn't immediately respond and that wasn't good enough "Now!"

"Alright" Naruto told him "Sheesh, don't get your panties in a twist" the blonde shook his head, then looked intently into Sasuke's eyes "Well, they're red, and there's this weird comma mark in one, and then there's two in the other… They look kinda like Kakashi-sensei's…" Naruto trailed off, remembering vaguely what had been said about Sasuke's clan "…Sharingan."

Sasuke felt a smile spread onto his face, a true smile. He had done it! Finally, he was one step closer to his ambition. A grim smile settled over his features as the thought of his stated ambition sobered his thoughts and dampened his happiness at the revelation "Naruto" he said, his grim smile fading, replaced by a look that wasn't his usual scowl but was instead a more normal facial expression that didn't imply insane moodiness, and was if anything rather satisfied "shall we head ba…"

"Are you done already, Ha…ku?" that deep, gruff voice was one Sasuke was unlikely to forget anytime soon. Zabuza Momochi had emerged from the thick mists and was staring at the masked ninja's corpse with wide eyes.

A moment passed in deathly silence, then Zabuza's eyes locked on the two of them, and finally his eyes moved to the bloody kunai in Naruto's hands.

With a roar like a demons howl, Zabuza charged, his massive cleaver sword flashing even in the dim light that penetrated the mist. He charged at Naruto faster than the blonde could see, but Sasuke could, and could see the sword swinging around to cleave him in two. Without even thinking about it Sasuke tackled his teammate, knocking him from the weapons path.

Zabuza's sword dripped with blood.

Naruto hit the ground entangled with Sasuke, they rolled for a moment before stopping with Sasuke lying over his stomach. Shoving the Uchiha off of his stomach, Naruto glared at Zabuza, hand twitching towards a kunai.

He stopped.

For one very simple reason, he stopped dead, and looked down at the red smear on the front of his jumpsuit. He felt a phantom pain for a second, then realised that the blood wasn't his. Turning his unwilling head Naruto looked at the boy laid next to him, who he had so roughly pushed off of him a moment ago, and the blood pouring from the wound that cleaved open half his stomach.

Cutting him from his waist to his navel, with blood pouring forth freely, and his spine severed, Sasuke Uchiha lay there, struggling to breathe through the pain.

"Sa…Sasuke…" Naruto gently turned his teammate over so that he lay face up, Sasuke gave him a half glare.

"You're such a nuisance, idiot" Sasuke's eye went wide and he opened mouth "Move, Naruto!"

Naruto turned to look at what Sasuke was looking at, and found Zabuza stood there with his massive blade. He lifted it high into the air, like an executioner's blade, and it swung down.

Hugging Sasuke to his chest Naruto didn't look up as death rushed down to meet him.

He heard the sound of blade meeting flesh, heard blood dripping, but felt no pain and it took him a moment before he realised that he was fine. Looking over his shoulder Naruto found Kakashi, one hand on the cleaver swords handle, stopping it from striking his two students, the other wielding a kunai that stabbed into Zabuza's right arm.

"Sensei" Kakashi spared him a glance, and another one for Sasuke. His eye went grim but he turned back to the battle.

Zabuza leapt back, wielding his sword in his good arm, the one that wasn't stabbed through a vital tendon. It wasn't likely he'd be moving that arm again for a while, not without a skilled medic. And the only person he knew that had any skill with medicine was now dead. His anger flared, but he focused back on the battle. Haku was just a weapon, nothing more, he was angry because someone had destroyed his weapon, it was nothing other than that, even though tears where stinging at his eyes, Zabuza refused to admit that it was anything other than the loss of a useful tool. Only in his final moments would he ever admit that Haku was more to him than just a tool.

Naruto stared down at his wounded teammate "You'll be fine" he said in what he hoped was a comforting tone, too bad it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself "You'll definitely be fine, Kakashi-sensei will finish that and then he'll…"

He was cut off by Sasuke bitter laugh "I'm dying, idiot!"

"No, no, you can't die Sasuke, you…"

"JUST SHUT…" he coughed, blood clogging up his airway "Just… shut up" he choked out, spitting blood on the ground.

Naruto was diminished under his harsh words, and from the blood coming out of his mouth.

Sasuke felt so angry in that moment, and so sad as well. He had never done it, his _ambition_ was just a _dream_. To avenge his family and restore his clan, to kill Itachi Uchiha, his older brother, in the same cold blood which Itachi had murdered their parents in. But in the end he was dying and Itachi was still so far out of reach, still a barrier that he had to overcome but there was no way for him to climb it anymore.

This was the end.

His slaughtered family could never rest in peace with their killer still at large. His mother, his father, his aunt and his uncle, his cousins, they would all be forgotten by the world, life would go on for everyone else and no one would remember that the Uchiha had died out, no one would care.

Tear stung at his eyes, or was that blood, Sasuke wanted to raise his hand to wipe them away but he couldn't. His arm felt so heavy, so very heavy, like they were tied down with lead weights, or perhaps like they were lead weights. He bit into his lip to try and force back his tears, but they only came on stronger, the sadness came on stronger as memories he had long forced himself to forget came bubbling to the surface.

Every memory of his family he had had become embittered with anger and rage, rage at Itachi for stealing them all from him, it fuelled his hatred, drove him to become stronger. But now he felt them all again, all those memories, and this time they were embittered with sadness, that he would never ever fulfil his goal, that he had never become a ninja worthy of his father's praise, a man worthy of his mother's love, he was just a boy ninja, a brat, dying on a mission that was beyond his skill.

And he hated it.

"Sasuke…" Sasuke blinked slowly, glancing up at the blonde who had spoken. There were no tears in Naruto's eyes, but there was agony written all over his face. It made him chuckle.

"What's with that look…" he murmured "It's like… someone you care about… is dying…" even in death he couldn't help but mock the idiot, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up, even if he was dying.

Strange to think that not long ago he thought Naruto was a useless waste of a ninja, and now here he was dying because he saved that same blonde idiot. They hadn't been together long, but Sasuke felt the tug of a bond growing between them, a bond of hate and rivalry, and a strange kind of mutual respect. Naruto might be all talk and no skill, but while he couldn't walk the walk he would still walk, no matter what he would get up and walk.

He never would have expected that back then, sat on that rooftop with his team, that he'd end up in this sort of situation.

"_What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone."_

A black humoured grin settled on his face as he thought back to that, it felt so long ago but it was only a few months, when they had first become a team. He only realised now how stupid he had been back then. 'Not a dream', it was laughable, all it had ever been was a dream.

"_My dream is… ehehehe!"_

Sakura, she was still just as annoying now as she had been back then. Why no one understood that he didn't have time for girls right now he'd never understand. He just wanted to be left alone to train and the only people he needed near him where those who could help him train. But it wasn't like Sakura was completely useless. She had her own courage, courage enough to stand against an opponent many times her superior and while she was terrified she would still do her duty, as best as her dumb with fear mind could allow her to. She was smart and bright, but too emotional. She'd probably cry at his funeral. Would he even have a funeral?

"_Dreams for the future? Hmm… I never really about it."_

Kakashi Hatake, their mysterious, perpetually late and incredibly annoying sensei who somehow possessed a Sharingan. Once again Sasuke wondered once again how he obtained that eye. But he was strong, that much was certain, he had treated Sasuke like a child when they fought, not getting serious for even a moment. The difference in their ability was made all too clear when he watched Kakashi fight Zabuza the first time.

"_My dream is to become the greatest Hokage ever, then all the people will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me!"_

And Naruto, the idiotic, blonde haired, blue eyed, orange wearing imbecile who actually believed he could become Hokage. But Naruto was more than that summation, which is what he would've given to anyone had they asked and had he been in a good enough mood to answer. Naruto was determination given form, if he set his mind to something he would do, no matter how hard, no matter how painful, no matter who said it was impossible. He was almost always grinning, despite being alone he didn't show any signs of loneliness nor did he seem to want to be alone. Naruto was almost like his antithesis, if Sasuke was the dark then Naruto was the light, not two sides of the same coin but certainly similar if only due to the level with which they were opposite.

"I don't wanna die" he mumbled. Why had it taken him so long to realise that? It was so obvious, no one wanted to die, but right here, right now, dying seemed so much more terrifying.

Naruto's hand touched his shoulder. Sasuke glanced at the blonde, but Naruto said nothing, and Sasuke saw no reason to respond. He must sound like such a child right now, but all he wanted to do was curl up and cry out of fear. Curling up, however, was probably going to be impossible for him given his injuries. He wasn't sure how he had managed to stay alive thus far, movement was only going to hasten it.

If Sasuke was honest he was jealous of Naruto. A part of him wished he could be Naruto, so happy, so friendly and excitable. It wasn't a part of him he particularly liked, but it was perhaps a more honest part. Naruto was all alone, like him, but Naruto could still smile, still take joy in the little things, even if everyone seemed to dislike him for no good reason Naruto never seemed to care.

"Naruto" he murmured drawing the blonde's gaze. Naruto nodded, waiting for whatever the Uchiha had to say. This was probably the longest sustained period that he had been quiet in years Sasuke thought with a grin "You… are going to be Hokage right?" Naruto nodded, a frown etching onto his face "Do you really believe that?" now there was some annoyance there as well.

"I believe it" he said hotly, glaring at the black haired boy. His glare faded quietly, as did what little anger was. It seemed not even Naruto could stay angry with someone so near to their own death.

"_I'm gonna be Hokage one day and then you'll all have to look up to me!" _Naruto was such an idiot, the Hokage was the strongest most respected ninja in the village. Did he really believe he could become someone so revered? _"It doesn't matter what any of you say, you'll be talking out of your arse when I am Hokage!" _Yes, he really did _"I'll be the greatest Hokage ever" _really, really did.

Naruto, the blonde idiot who never went back on his word, who stabbed himself in the hand just to prove a point, and to get some poison out, the blonde idiot who would one day become Hokage, no matter what, no matter who stood in his way, Naruto would do it.

'_Once Naruto sets his mind to something…' _Sasuke thought to himself, unsure why his thoughts were even going down this path _'…he will do it. Come hell, high water, rain or shine, Naruto Uzumaki will become Hokage, will never surrender, he will never go on his word...' _Why was he thinking these things?_ '…Never…'_ Sasuke finally knew why "Naruto…" Sasuke looked up again, his onyx eyes flashing the Sharingan.

The answer was so obvious he wondered how he didn't see it sooner, and so ludicrous he wondered if he had gone absolutely barmy in his final moments.

Naruto nodded "Come here a sec" Sasuke beckoned him down. Naruto shuffled closer, until his knees touched Sasuke's arm "Closer!" Sasuke growled. Naruto grumbled but moved closer, behind over Sasuke until their noses were practically touching "That's better, well besides your ugly mug" Sasuke grinned at him as annoyance flickered across Naruto's expression "Naruto" he said sharply, lowering his voice and drawing the blonde's attention "I have a dream, Naruto. My dream was to kill my older brother" Naruto blinked in shock but Sasuke carried on ignoring the thoughts that must be swirling around the blonde's head "He murdered my family, he killed them all Naruto. My ambition" he spat the word, derision for himself dripping off of every syllable "was to avenge them, to lay their souls to rest at last."

Naruto nodded unsurely, it was a bit much to take in given the current situation.

"I can't do it anymore Naruto, I'm dead. So… do it for me" that made Naruto blinked, but Sasuke didn't give him a chance to say anything "Kill him for me Naruto, give me your word. Become Hokage and kill Itachi Uchiha. In return…" Sasuke raised up his hand, the effort required was immense and he left blood on Naruto's cheeks where his fingers touched him, just below the eye "I'll become your eyes."

"What… Sasuke what are you…"

"When Kakashi comes back, have him transplant my eyes into you, my Sharingan will become yours, and with it you'll defeat Itachi, and you'll become Hokage."

"Sasuke, I…"

"Naruto!" Sasuke snapped, as best as he could, he felt so weak, even his voice "Do it… for me… please…" a second passed between them, blue and red eyes locking. After a moment, Naruto finally nodded. Sasuke smiled grimly. He spoke of a few others things, things Naruto needed to know, things Naruto would need to complete his ambition, but at the end of it he couldn't remember a word he had spoken. He closed his eyes and waited, knowing he needed to live long enough to see it done.

"Sasuke" the voice wasn't Naruto's and Sasuke forced himself to open his heavy lids and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi didn't look to good, he was bloodied, his vest was torn in placed, and his forehead protector was lazily placed over his Sharingan eye "Are you sure about this?"

Sasuke felt a grim smile come back, so Kakashi had heard, even in the middle of a fight he had listened to every word spoken "Yes, I'm certain Kakashi. Can you do it?"

Kakashi searched his students face and finally he nodded.

"Then do it."

Kakashi pulled off his gloves, wiping Zabuza's blood off of his arm and fingers "Naruto lie down next to Sasuke. This will hurt" he warned the both of them. Neither of them hesitated, Naruto was too stunned by events to care and Sasuke was too in pain to care about any more.

The mist began clearing as he worked, he was almost halfway through when Sakura finally arrived with Tazuna in tow "Sasuke-kun, there you… are…" she stopped dead, behind her the bridge builder stared shocked at the scene before him "Sasuke…-kun…" Sakura stared at Sasuke's wounds, pouring out blood, and at the eyeball in Kakashi-sensei's fingers, the red Sharingan eye "SENSEI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU…"

"Sakura!" Kakashi's voice held no kindness or sympathy, he didn't even look up from his work "This is what Sasuke wanted. He's dying, and this is his last wish" that might not be the best way to break it to her, but it was the truth, untarnished and true.

Sakura watched in abject horror as Kakashi inserted her crushes eye into Naruto's empty socket, a pair of blue eyes lay on the bridge, and looking at them made her feel sick. It had taken Kakashi five minutes to remove Naruto's eyes, and it had been a further five minutes since he started removing and then implanting this eyes.

If the situation where any different he'd give himself a pat on the back for that, because he damn well deserved one. Kakashi was not a medic, this wasn't what he was trained to do, and removing and implanting anything was way beyond in field first aid.

But he was prouder of his two students than of himself, for different reasons. Naruto had lain there, silent and unmoving, even as Kakashi's not perfect Medical Jutsu probably caused him a good bit of pain. Sasuke, he was proud of Sasuke because… because Sasuke had learned to trust someone not himself. He would've laughed in any other situation, it took dying for Sasuke to learn how to trust someone else, typical.

Fifteen minutes since the start, and almost twenty since Sasuke had taken the fatal wound that should've killed him much quicker, and the operation was done.

Sasuke couldn't see anything so he only heard as Kakashi said "Open them slowly, yeah like that, okay now give me a minute. Don't move them yet. Good… okay now tell me how many fingers I'm holding up" he laughed weakly as he heard that. Was that really a test? It sounded like something someone with no experience in such things would assume was a medical test. Then again it might just be that Kakashi had no experience in it and was just making it up as he was going along. That actually sounded rather likely and drew another muted chuckle.

"Sasuke…" he heard Naruto speak, and wondered what the blonde idiot looked like with _his _Sharingan. He probably looked ridiculous "I swear to you, I will kill Itachi Uchiha" Naruto said, his voice deadly serious "I will avenge your clan, and I will become Hokage. With these eyes, I'll do it all, I promise" Sasuke felt a smile twitch onto his face. Maybe not that ridiculous then.

"Thank you" he murmured, speaking blindly to where he assumed Naruto's face was.

Finally he let his body relax, let go the iron hard grip on life he had maintained throughout the operation. Was it even possibly for a human to survive that long with the injuries he had? Sasuke didn't know, didn't care either, he had done, through sheer force of will he lived on to pass his light to a worthy successor.

That drew another grin _'The dark side passes on its light, hah, how stupid does that sound… not that stupid, actually.'_

He felt it slip further and further away, it was like he was sinking into a soft mattress, there was no icy hand of death anymore, that had faded away, leaving him in the soft mattress of death. He sank deeper and deeper and deeper, until…

"Mom…" Naruto blinked as Sasuke spoke again. The dark haired Uchiha who looked like he was crying tears of blood from the operation was facing up, obviously as he was still lying on his back. But it was almost like he was _looking _up, even though his eyes where closed and there was nothing beneath the eyelids "Dad…" Sasuke's hand slowly reached up, with a strength his muscles had long since lacked, blood dripping from his fingers "Aunty… Uncle…" he heard Sasuke sniff, a small but truly contented smile spreading across his face, a face which Naruto realised didn't look quite so arsehole-ish when smiling "I'll see you soon."

The light beaming through the clouds made the scene unearthly, like he was about to rise up to heaven in a heavenly beam. Instead his hand fell to the ground, hitting the concrete with a deafening thud.

Naruto felt a lump rise in his throat, felt so many emotions he wasn't sure what he was feeling, and felt strangely above it all, like he was looking in on someone else's situation.

Sasuke Uchiha was dead.

Kakashi lowered his head, Tazuna looked away in shame or in sadness, Sakura screamed, pulling at her hair and crying.

But Naruto looked out onto the world with new eyes, Sasuke's Sharingan, one eye bearing one tomoe, the other having two, blazed out of his sockets. Only thing was clear to Naruto in that moment. He would not break that promise. He would become Hokage, and he would slay Itachi Uchiha, that was the only truth in the world that mattered to him. It was not a dream, for he would make it a reality.

It was an ambition.

"Well that was an interesting spectacle" a foul cruel voice spoke "But we'll have to ask you guys to die now" Kakashi turned and found a very short man stood there, and at his back a hundred or more mercenaries and bandits.

"Gato" the Jonin said, knowing it was true. A hundred bandits, at full strength he could easily take that many, but after his fight with Zabuza he was feeling pretty drained. Using the Lightning Cutter was costly "Stay here" he told the Genin, swiping Naruto's pouch. Naruto was looking at the thugs with a deadly anger, Sakura had taken the blonde's place beside Sasuke's corpse, clinging to it while crying and Tazuna was staring fearfully at the group.

'_I don't know if I can win this' _Kakashi thought keeping his face blank, even though only his eye could be seen. He looked back at the Sharingan eyed Naruto, the crying Sakura, and the dead Sasuke _'But I won't lose another student. I've lost too much already' _fury burned within him, fury at himself, fury at Zabuza, fury at everything, especially these little shits in front of him.

"Hehe" Gato chuckled "Kill him, he's easy prey, the one who brings me his head'll get a bonus."

With a roar the collected misfits and scum charged at the lone Jonin.

An arrow struck the bridge in front of them, drawing the whole group to a stop "What the…"

"We won't let you guys push us around any longer" Inari said, standing at the front of a mob of the whole village, all wielding weapons from pitchforks to battle axes "Hehe" Inari grinned "A hero always shows up at the last minute" he said cheerfully, until he saw what the fading mist had hidden.

The crying Sakura, the dead Sasuke, and Naruto looking at the ground and nowhere else.

"Wha…What… What's going… on…" Inari stuttered out.

'_Well now, that's useful' _Kakashi thought, eyeing the small lightly armed but determined looking militia behind him "You guys might die" he warned the villagers "But if you're really sick of this tyranny, then I'll help out" he turned his gaze back to Gato's small army "But what I can do is rather limited right now."

"That's fine, Shinobi-san" said a villager, as the mob approached as one, parting around Inari who stood still "We can't expect you to fight all our battles for us."

Kakashi opened Naruto's pouch and with immense speed and accuracy threw the twenty odd kunai that rested there, each and every one of them hitting their mark in the forehead.

Twenty three men fell, dead, before the battle had truly began in earnest.

The villagers charged, the thugs reconsidered messing with a shinobi, but only one man drew Kakashi's attention. Gato was hiding at the very back of his group, near the boat, shouting at his men and offering money for every villagers head, especially the little brat at the front.

'_You are going to die painfully, Gato.'_

* * *

Okay so I know this has been done over and over and over again, and I'm going to do it again. Its a nice simple Sharingan Naruto fic that instantly kills off Sasuke, the reason why he's listed as a character is because he's still important to the story as a figure or a memory or an ideal, not necessarily as a character however. I've got an idea of where this is going, but for this is what I've got. I'll upload chapter 2 when its done to my satisfaction.

Note that I merged two versions of this chapter to make this, so if you see any inconsistencies point them out and I'll correct them, the same with spelling/grammar issues.

Toodles.


	2. Kindling

**Chapter 2: Kindling.**

Four villagers died in the fighting, another died of his injuries shortly after the battle, several more were seriously injured and a couple of dozen had minor wounds, and the only reason the casualties were that low was because of Kakashi Hatake, who was certain he had saved the life of just about everyone in the impromptu army of the Land of Waves, several times over.

After the battle Gato's severed head was paraded about on a spear, until Tazuna put a stop to the display of carnal brutality. A celebration began in the village, what little food and drink they had was brought out in full and feasted upon, and what they raided from Gato's base increased their meagre supply sevenfold.

Kakashi himself settled down with no less than ten bottles and drank them fast. He really, really needed this, just to kill his own feelings for a night. A part of him felt like a piece of dog shit for not trying to comfort and help his students, but another part told him he'd be less than useless to his grieving Genin, so he drank now and hoped that in the morning he could find something tactful and comforting to say.

But when morning finally burst through the window, it came with a vengeful headache like a kunai stabbing repeatedly through his skull "Urgh" Kakashi groaned as he forced himself upright, his head was swimming and he was reminded painfully of why over consumption of alcohol was something he rarely indulged in. It might be nice at the time, but the after effects were rather unpleasant.

It didn't help that he was feeling like a complete dick for leaving his students alone, so before he tried to quell his headache, or drank some water, or ate something, he searched for the two misfits that were now all he had left of his team.

He found Sakura in the room where they had laid Sasuke's body after the fight. She wasn't clinging to the corpse which he took a good sign, instead she was curled up in a corner, asleep, with tears staining her pale face.

The Jonin sighed as he knelt down in front of her, brushing some pink hair from her face. He left her there for a moment, heading into one of the other rooms, he didn't care whose it was or if they would mind him stealing their blanket and took it, returning to wrap it around Sakura. He wiped a tear from her eye but left her sleeping. She probably hadn't gotten much last night after all.

A quick search of the house turned up no sign of his blonde haired blue eyed Genin… actually that wasn't right anymore was it, it was his blonde haired red eyed Genin.

'_Where did you get off to Naruto?' _he wondered, hoping he was doing anything stupid.

An early morning mist had settled across the Land of Waves, the impaired vision caused by the fog gave the land a foreboding feel, but beautiful as well _'Foreboding but beautiful' _Kakashi mused as he looked around _'Sounds like a kunoichi I know, several of them in fact.'_

Tracking Naruto down was a fairly easy task, his scent was pretty clear and the signs of his passing were easy for a trained eye to see, first Naruto had gone to the bridge, and Kakashi noted the clean-up of Gato's bandit army was in full swing. But two bodies he knew should be there weren't, and the red smudges dragging away from the bridge were like a path to the person he sought.

'_Naruto… I hope you're not doing what I think you are' _what did he think Naruto was doing? It wasn't think, more like fear. And he feared Naruto was taking his vengeance on the corpses of Zabuza and his fake hunter-ninja apprentice. It wasn't something Naruto-ish, but then again as far as Kakashi knew Naruto had never lost someone important to him. Even so Kakashi really hoped he was wrong.

And he was.

'_Ah, I see…'_ two wooden crosses set in patches of patted down earth. A belt was hung over one of the graves, for he knew with certainly that they were graves, and the other had Kubikiribocho planted in the dirt above it.

Naruto was stood there, looking out over the view the cliff side grave boasted. He looked back when Kakashi moved closer, close enough to be heard, and the silver haired Jonin sucked in a breath seeing those red eyes in Naruto's sockets. That was going to take some getting used to. It put him on edge just seeing them, or perhaps it was because he expected to see blue despite knowing he would see red?

He moved to stand alongside his student, staring equally at the graves and at the view behind the grave.

"I hate him" Naruto confessed after a long but not uncomfortable silence.

"But you made him a grave" Kakashi noted, curious as to why. It wasn't common practise to make a grave for your enemies, especially not those you hated. Heck the most Shinobi could reasonably expect was to be burnt, preferably after they were dead, and that was only if circumstances allowed.

Naruto didn't respond for several moments "He… when he saw the fake hunter ninja… Haku I think, when he saw his corpse, he got so angry. There was so much anger in his eyes…" Naruto looked at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye "I think Zabuza loved him."

Kakashi smiled faintly "You might be right."

"Haku…" Naruto stared at the grave marked by a belt "I met him, in the woods before the battle, I didn't even know who it was, but he had the opportunity to kill me and didn't take it, he woke me up, I was his enemy and he woke me up cause I 'might catch a cold'" Kakashi listened silently "He told me… he told me that when a person has something they want to protect, they can become truly strong…" the faint smile returned to Kakashi's face, now those were nice words "I… I think I liked him."

"Its fine to like your enemies Naruto, in fact I'd say it's more wrong to hate your enemies… but in the end they're still our enemies."

Naruto nodded "I hate _him_, though… He probably hated me just as much."

Kakashi nodded, though he doubted Naruto could see, and doubted that the blonde cared. He himself felt little towards Zabuza, good or bad. They were enemies, and Kakashi couldn't find it in himself to hate his enemies. He had been forced to let men live who had murdered his comrades in cruel and callous manners, desecrated their corpses, or tortured them in their final hours. And while once he had felt hate towards his enemies, used it to keep him going, keep him fighting, now his hate was all dried up.

From his perspective his enemies were the enemy, but from his enemies perspective he was the enemy, he understood that and while he would show no mercy and expect no mercy, he couldn't bring himself to hate them anymore, not even for the death of a comrade, not even for the death of a student that Kakashi should've protected, not even then.

"I wanted to stab it through his corpse" Naruto said, his voice gaining a bit of heat and a bit of anger, his eyes on Kubikiribocho "As payment for what he did… but then I wondered what would be the point. I wanted to hit him, to cut him, to piss on his corpse, to fuck him up as badly as he's fucked everything up!" his shoulders slumped, the tension faded away, as did the anger, leaving Naruto somehow smaller than he was before "But it wouldn't change a thing… If only I could… but I can't."

Kakashi didn't even need to ask, in fact he didn't even need to think about it to know what Naruto was going to say 'If only I could go back and change things. If only I could make a different choice. If only I could save Sasuke' but he couldn't. None of them could.

"The world is a cruel place" Kakashi said after a moment "Especially this world we live in, where its fight, kill" his eye met Sasuke's Sharingan, and it softened at the pain that shone clear in what where now Naruto's eyes "or die. And even if we do fight, even if we do kill, we still die" he sighed "I'm sorry, I don't know how to comfort people, Naruto. But if you want someone to talk to, I'm here for you. And if you want someone to cry on, I'm here. And if you want to shout and scream and rage and hit and bite and punch" he placed his hands on the boys head, gently ruffling his blonde hair "I'm here, feel free."

"That…" Naruto sniffed loudly, his eyes gaining some wetness "Isn't it one of those ninja rules, don't cry" he said, rubbing furiously at the tears building lest they come again.

Kakashi nodded "Yeah it is" he knelt down and pulled Naruto into a hug. The blonde stiffened at the contact "So guess what, you're not gonna cry" he told Naruto, rubbing the back of the blonde's head gently "You're going to stay there for a bit, and if my jacket happens to get wet then I'll just presume there's been a freak rainfall in between your face and my jacket."

"Wha…" Naruto was stiff in the embrace, unused to such contact.

"Freak rainfall…" Kakashi said gently "Okay?" he felt Naruto's hands slowly grip at the front of his jacket, Naruto's head pressing against the padded Jonin's vest Kakashi wore. And just like he promised Kakashi didn't once think that Naruto was crying. When he heard what one might describe as sobbing he just presumed Naruto was choking on something, maybe he needed a drink? When he heard pained howls escaping from the boys lips he assumed Naruto had bitten the inside of his cheek of something. When Naruto's hands let go of their pincer grip and started hitting him he assumed it was annoyance for always showing up late. And when Naruto finally let go some ten minutes later, finally pulled back with bloodshot Sharingan eyes and wet cheeks, Kakashi presumed there was some kind of freak rainfall between Naruto's face and his jacket and that Naruto had been unfortunate enough to get caught up in it.

He knew the truth, but he would never admit it even to himself. For Naruto's sake he would put this moment at the back of his mind, this entire scenario would become nothing more than fleeting memory.

"Sorry…" Naruto murmured after a moment, he had turned away from Kakashi to wipe his face and still wasn't looking back.

Kakashi smiled using only his eye, though Naruto couldn't see it, and patted the blonde on the head, ruffling the messy blonde spikes again, making them into an even messier mess "Whatever for?"

That drew a small grin from the blonde, and a watery chuckle, but soon sadness flooded back in as Naruto stared at the two graves in front of him "What'll happen, with… with Sasuke?"

Kakashi was grateful that he didn't have to confirm anything just then, that he knew people, and his Genin, well enough to understand what was being asked as asking 'You mean his corpse?' was likely to tear open wounds that were still fresh, still bleeding, still painful "He'll be taken back to Konoha with us, and buried there."

"I… I see" Naruto said, trying to sound professional, or trying not to let his anguish bleed through into his words.

Kakashi said nothing to break the peaceful silence that emerged following that simple statement from Naruto. They both had their own issues to work through after all. Naruto might think it was all his fault that Sasuke had died, but Kakashi knew the truth. It was _his _fault. He was the Jonin, he was the adult, he was charged with protecting them, though he had given them the choice in the end it was his decision whether or not they continue this mission, it was his fault. But then Naruto likely felt the same, and Kakashi feeling like it was his fault was unlikely to provide any comfort to the Genin much as Naruto blaming himself provided Kakashi with only more pain.

"I'll kill him" Naruto said suddenly.

Kakashi didn't remark for a moment "You mean Itachi?" he knew what Naruto meant of course. And Naruto's nod didn't even prove it, he was already certain after all "A promise made on a fellow Shinobi's deathbed is not a promise you need to feel inclined to keep, Naruto. To provide someone with comfort in their final moments in considered enough, no one will judge you if you…"

"I will do it" Naruto said, cutting over Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded "I know you will. I just thought you should know" he placed his hand on the Genin who was half his height's shoulder "I'll help you. I know quite a bit about the Sharingan after all, its strengths and its weaknesses, how to fight with it, and how to fight against it. Besides…" he rubbed at the back of his head "I have to earn my title as sensei don't I?"

"Thank you" Naruto murmured.

"Don't" Kakashi told him simply "You don't need to thank me, Naruto. You're my student, my Genin, and I'll do everything in my power to help you succeeded, in both your ambitions."

Naruto smiled bitterly "Ambition, because I will make it a reality."

"And you will" Kakashi said that so instantly, so confidently, without a hint of doubt, that it stunned Naruto for a second.

He glanced at his sensei unsurely, and Kakashi smiled, which in turn made Naruto smile a bit "You're right, I will" he clench his fist in front of him "I will become Hokage, and I will kill Itachi Uchiha" _'With these eyes, I'll do it all.'_

"Naruto" Kakashi said in a business like tone after a moment had passed "How are you feeling? By which I mean did you get any sleep last night?" Naruto shook his head "Do your eyes ache at all?"

Naruto nodded "Just a bit though."

"Do you feel tired?" another negative shake of his head "Right, well if you do, just close your eyes or pull your headband down" he flicked his own which covered his Sharingan eye to show what he meant "And most importantly of all, tell me" Naruto nodded affirmative to that "Good… then we should probably head on back, unless you'd like a few more moments" he glanced back at the graves.

Naruto shook his head "I'm good."

"Right" Kakashi frowned at the graves himself "Naruto head back and starting packing, we're leaving immediately, bridge or no bridge. Don't wake Sakura though, let her sleep. I'll wake her when I get back."

"When you get back?" Naruto inquired.

Kakashi fished his book out of his pouch and stood casually in front of the two graves "I want to finish off this chapter" he said, knowing Naruto would see through the lie "See you in a bit."

Naruto nodded and made his way off, soon vanishing amidst the trees. He certainly had picked a secluded spot for this grave, a beautiful spot too.

Kakashi placed his book back, the words of love and sex not distracting him for a second, if anything he felt disgusted at himself for even trying to read it right at this moment. He stood there, silent and alone, with his hands in his pockets, staring at the graves then at the view then at the graves then at the view.

"Zabuza" he said, approaching the grave and removing Kubikiribocho from the earth "You'll have to lie in an unmarked grave" he wasn't going to let the weapon that killed his student be used by some bandit thug who happened to find the grave, or some stupid Seven Swordsmen wannabe. He sealed it away in a scroll, he couldn't say he would never use it himself, cause if the situation arose where it could save his or a comrades life then he'd use it in a heartbeat, but he'd rather not. He was going to put it away in some box in his apartment and leave it there to rot, no better than its former position really, but this way it was under his guard.

He turned and walked away, following the trail Naruto had left through the woods of marked dirt and snapped twigs, similar to the trail he had followed to get in here, though that trail had a bit more blood from the two corpses he'd had to drag.

Before he left the clearing a chill wind blew past, ruffling the leaves and sending a cold shiver down his spine. Was it some premonition of things to come? Was it Zabuza's ghost come to haunt him for removing his treasured blade? Was it just a cool breeze?

Kakashi ignored it and just kept walking.

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They parted ways with Tazuna that day, leaving early in the morning as they wanted no huge send off, and with only a sleepy but sombre Inari and a concerned Tsunami who worried for the two children under Kakashi's charge, her concern was sweet to be honest.

Tazuna, no one on Team 7 could say they liked the man, even Kakashi felt a small bit of bitterness as it was the bridge builder's lies that got them into this mess, but no one could hate him either. He had done what he thought best for the sake of his country, for his family, for his people. He may have done the wrong thing, but he did it for the right reasons.

Despite Tazuna's claims to the contrary Kakashi labelled the mission as a failure. They were leaving before the bridge was complete and the mission objective was to guard Tazuna until the bridge was complete, and no matter what even Tsunami and Inari proclaimed he was unwilling to accept any reward or concession. Neither Naruto nor Sakura seemed to care either way.

He did however accept them paying for a boat to ferry them back to the mainland, them being Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and the thick black cloth that wrapped around Sasuke Uchiha's lifeless and eyeless corpse. After that it was a long walk back, so they ran instead. All the fun of their journey there, the occasional jokes, the bantering, the excitement, it was all gone, dead.

There was no arguing, in fact there was no talking besides that which was absolutely necessary or what Kakashi initiated. They moved faster without a civilian slowing them down, but they didn't move with any particular swiftness. No one was that eager to get home, no one was that eager to stay out here, so they moved because they had nothing else to do.

Along the way Kakashi thought about many things, he thought about Sasuke and his life, he thought about Naruto and his dream, he thought about Sakura and her grief, he thought about the punishment he was certain to receive, and deserved, for the death of a student, he thought about the reaction the village would have to Naruto possessing the Sharingan, he thought about Obito, he thought about Minato, he thought about Rin, but his two students were always at the forefront of his thoughts.

He worried for them.

Naruto was quiet, terribly quiet, he'd answer any and all questions direct his way but all the bubbling energy from before was just gone. It was no surprise of course, but it was still sad to see. Sakura worried him more though, Naruto had a goal, a purpose, something to live and struggle for, but Sakura…

Sakura had nothing but the pain and while she could turn that pain into determination like Naruto was doing, forge her anguish into an iron will, she could also just self-destruct, kill herself, close herself off, become delusional, or any number of other things. And he suspected she was well along her way towards one of those other things, blaming everyone else.

At one point during the trip she had stumbled and fallen, and Naruto offered her a hand up, and all of a sudden rage reared its ugly head.

She charged him, hit him, clawed at him, bit him, screamed that it was his fault, shouted that she wished he'd died instead, and cried. Naruto hadn't reacted, probably because he agreed with her, and Kakashi had to pull her off before she finally calmed down, hiding again behind a cold emotionless mask.

It might be that she only blamed Naruto, which wasn't fair at all, but hate rarely was fair. It might be she just needed an outlet for her emotions, he could understand that, but at the same time wished it had been him instead. He could handle his students hating him, he wasn't sure Naruto could handle Sakura, the girl he liked, hating him for something he already hated himself for.

Naruto had made no attempt to interact with Sakura after that, not when she cried before falling asleep, not when she tripped, not when she looked exhausted after a sleepless night. It was probably for the best. Naruto had his own issues right now.

They were nearing Konoha now, four days after their subdued parting from the Land of Waves, just a few more minutes and they'd be home. The cloth which contained Sasuke's body was slung carefully over Kakashi's shoulder.

Sakura couldn't bear to watch as he wrapped Sasuke up in cloth and left the room, maybe it felt to final to her, like it finally made him dead. But Naruto on the other hand watched silently as he wrapped the Uchiha up, only once Sasuke was covered from head to toe did the blonde close his red Sharingan eyes and leave the room.

Maybe he took some solace from it, maybe he believed that it was something he needed to see, or maybe it was something else entirely, Kakashi didn't know.

The evening sun lit the word in golden light as the gates came into view. Kakashi pulled them over into the shadow of a tree before they got close "Listen to me the both of you" he said sternly, making sure his students would listen and obey him on this matter "No one learns about Naruto having the Sharingan until I've spoken to the Hokage about it and he's decided on what to do. I don't care if they're you're best friend, your parents, a pet or a stuffed animal, tell no one" he said this more for Sakura than Naruto. He very much doubted Naruto wanted to talk about it, or even would without stern prompting "Understood?" he directed this quite specifically at Sakura this time, who after a moment's hesitation nodded "Good. Naruto take these" he gave the blonde a pair of black sunglasses that he had procured back in the Land of Waves for just this situation "Put them on, don't take them off except to sleep and bathe, got it?" Naruto nodded this time "Good, then… let's go home."

The guards at the gate said nothing as they returned with a corpse, offering them pitying stares and waving them through, not bothering to check their ID or anything. Kakashi was rather glad of that, he didn't want to have go through a ton of paperwork with a corpse on his back.

He sent his students off once they were inside, telling them to do whatever they needed to, cry, drink, eat, talk to friend, sleep, train, whatever it was they needed to do. He'd report to the Hokage alone. As they disappeared into the early morning crowds, heading off down entirely different streets Kakashi steeled himself for a conversation with his leader about the one student he had gotten killed.

This wasn't going to be pleasant.

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He stood waiting his punishment, waiting for something, it had been ages since he had finished his report, Kakashi wasn't even sure how long it had been, the sun had gone down and it had been late evening when they arrived and it had still been up when he had finished so he guessed a good long while.

Finally, finally, something happened but it wasn't what Kakashi was expecting.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Professor, the God of Shinobi, who had fought in countless battles, lost countless friends, and been forced to make some very painful choices, sniffed sadly.

"H-Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said nervously.

The Hokage shook his head, he wasn't crying, but he was sad, so very sad "I met him only a few times" Kakashi looked at the wrapped corpse lying next to him "He was a dark child, so full of anger and rage… he had good reason to be" the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves sighed "It is a shame to see a young life cut short" the Third said nothing for a while, his fingers forming a steeple before his face. Then with a steely expression he moved onto the business at hand, rather than the grief at hand "The mission was a failure?"

"Yes, though I suspect that without further malignant factors the bridge will be completed. It might be for the best to send some Shinobi to check though."

"I'll arrange for it" the Hokage told him. He would not see the life of one of his ninja wasted by damning such a cause as a failure unless it would cost more lives than it was worth "Sasuke gave Naruto his Sharingan?"

Kakashi nodded, he had spoken at some length about that in his report, but he was willing to confirm it as often as his leader needed.

"He specifically asked for it?"

"Yes."

The Hokage nodded and then there was silence again, as there had been for a long time after Kakashi had finished his verbal report.

Kakashi worked up his courage, gathered up over a thousand battles, to finally speak "Hokage-sama, I will accept any punishment you see fit to give me without question, but please allow me to train Naruto Uzumaki" he bowed "He made a promise to Sasuke that he would defeat Itachi in his stead, and I wish to assist him in that goal."

There was a moment there when Kakashi feared the worst, with his head bowed he couldn't see his leader's expression, and he was afraid that there was only disappointment, disappointment and anger, on those aged features.

Instead the Hokage told him to "Relax" and Kakashi found himself doing just that. Standing up straight, the tension in his muscles was released, his mind calmed, and he no longer worried incessantly "I will not remove you as Team 7's instructor so you may train them as you wish" a hint of sternness entered his features "However Team 7 will be on leave for one month, starting tomorrow, and forbidden from any mission that takes you beyond the village limits for a further two months. Also you personally will pay for Sasuke Uchiha's funeral expenses, and also any expenses your students face due to lack of paying missions for the month."

Kakashi nodded to all of them. That was a pittance compared to what he had feared, but there were only a few who would say that he was getting off lightly. That was the kind of man Hiruzen Sarutobi was, able to punish you in a way that no one could complain about, including the one being punished. Plus he had enough money to retire comfortably right this instant. He could take a few months off and still have plenty, even while financially supporting his students.

"About Naruto" Kakashi said, drawing his Kage's gaze "I think it would be best to send him to a specialist medical ninja, to check my work. It wasn't exactly the best situation to be doing tricky medical work."

Hiruzen nodded "I'll arrange for a good, discrete, medic. Make your way to the hospital tomorrow at ten o'clock, and don't be late Kakashi" Kakashi nodded. He wouldn't be, for once "In a week or so I will be a meeting of Jonin" the Hokage continued "There I will formally announce the news regarding Sasuke's death and his Sharingan. Naruto is likely to face some backlash regarding that so prepare him, and prepare yourself as well" the Hokage sighed softly, his gaze turning to the body bag "Hawk, take the body to the morgue" an ANBU appeared from seemingly nowhere, though in truth he had been hanging around the office the whole time. The hawk masked ANBU bowed and picked up the body, disappearing without a trace "Kakashi, you're dismissed. Get some rest" the Hokage's old wizened eyes met Kakashi's own "You need it."

Kakashi thanked him, knowing that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, and left.

Once he was long gone Hiruzen stood and moved to the window, staring out at the moonlit Konoha.

That meeting had gone on for quite some time, Kakashi had arrived late evening, shortly after the gate reported his arrival along with two Genin and a corpse. Hiruzen had been preparing for it ever since he heard the news, wondering over which of the three it was, and what his reaction would be to each one in turn.

His old withered fingers pressed against the cool glass, and he sniffed sadly before speaking to the empty office "I am sorry..."

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Kakashi made his way across the moonlit rooftops at speed, ignoring and being ignored by the rest of the night time rooftop traffic. He headed for where he knew Naruto's apartment was, at the top of a large building with a small balcony area. He landed silently on the metal railing and slipped down onto the balcony itself before opening the windowed door and letting himself in.

He bit back a 'Anyone home?' as he noticed Naruto happily snoring on his bed. And why shouldn't he be? It was the middle of the night after all, or so Naruto's clock informed him and Kakashi could only assume it was correct.

Still chuckled to himself, he hadn't realised it was so late, he expected Naruto to be wide awake.

Naruto hadn't had any trouble sleeping while they on the road, unlike Sakura, and while he hadn't slept that first night since then his nights were silent. Well, not silent, but untroubled.

He considered the innocent face of his sleeping blonde student for a moment, it was strange to think of the Sharingan eyes that now burned beneath his eyelids, instead of the bright blue he had once possessed, but Kakashi would have to get used it. So would Naruto and Kakashi didn't pity the boy that. Unlike Kakashi who had only one Sharingan eye Naruto had two. He could cover his up, hide it away, but Naruto would never be able to escape it.

Taking a glance around the simple, if a bit messy room, something caught Kakashi's eye, a rucksack lying on the floor by his bed, three scrolls spilling forth from the open pack, and another scroll resting beneath Naruto's hands on his chest. He must've fallen asleep while reading it.

Kakashi gently took it from his grasp, making sure not to wake his student, and gave the scroll a quick glance through. He proceeded to roll it up neatly and forget everything he had seen.

That scroll wasn't meant for Kakashi's eyes, well technically it might've been meant for one of them, but definitely not the other.

His brief glance through told him that it was a scroll that had been written by the Uchiha clan, detailing the Great Fireball Jutsu, the Uchiha's personal fire jutsu. Sasuke must've told Naruto where to find it while trying to convince the blonde to take his Sharingan and fulfil his ambition, Kakashi hadn't heard all of that conversation after all, most of it yes, but not all.

He placed it down on Naruto's dresser and went over to the backpack, placing the three scrolls that had spilled out back in and couldn't resist a glance in the backpack. It was chock full of scrolls, some intricate and decorated, others simple and plain. He shut the pack and leaned it against the dresser so that it wouldn't slip.

Then he slumped down against the wall, sitting down on the wooden floor, and let himself relax while listening to Naruto's slow sonorous breathing, and allowed him to decompress and think.

And think he did. He thought about his failure as a sensei, he thought about Sasuke's funeral, he thought about how to train Naruto, how best to acclimatize the boy to his Sharingan, what jutsu he shout try and teach him, lessons and exercises that would go, and he thought about Sakura, how she would cope, how he should try and help her, what he should teach her and how he should go about doing it. Naruto was his focus right now, he would admit that, but he wouldn't ignore the only female member of his team.

It was then, when he had finally exhausted his thoughts of grief, of training, and of life, that Kakashi just sat, he didn't think, he didn't feel, he just waited.

Then the morning light burst through the window, and Naruto woke with a groan.

Kakashi looked up as Naruto stumbled out of bed, expecting the blonde to notice his presence any time soon… he didn't. In fact Naruto walked right past, rubbing sleep from his eyes, without ever noticing Kakashi sat there against his wall _'We really need to work on his awareness' _he thought, shaking his head amusedly.

He stood and followed after the blonde and found him the bathroom, thankfully not doing anything private as Naruto had left the door wide open and was instead just staring into his mirror, gazing at Sasuke's eyes through Sasuke's eyes.

"Yo!" he greeted cheerfully, popping up behind Naruto's head in full view of the mirror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" following his scream Naruto gasped for breath, staring at Kakashi through wide Sharingan eyes "Hi, Kakashi-sensei" he said still breathing heavily.

"… Hi" Kakashi finally said, deciding that ignoring Naruto's girlish scream was the best course of action for now.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, taking a moment to compose himself.

Kakashi smiled with his eye "Well, there are a few things I need to discuss with you, and a few things we need to do as well. You feel up to spending some time with your poor lonely sensei?"

Naruto blinked "Are you really lonely, sensei?"

"Well…" Kakashi frowned as he considered his social life, or lack thereof "Not really to be honest."

Naruto nodded, the confusion had ebbed away from his face, replaced by a more sombre expression. He had escaped recent events for a moment, but dark thoughts rarely stayed away for long, especially so soon after the dark events had occurred. It would take time before he recovered, if he ever truly did, mostly likely he would carry these scars forever.

"Anyway" Kakashi said, hoping to distract Naruto from his black thoughts again, though preferably without terrifying him this time "we have an appointment with a doctor at ten o'clock, and after that me and you need to have a pretty serious chat, but… we still have a good three hours to kill before that appointment, so how about a nice breakfast? I'll buy."

The prospect of a free meal brightened up Naruto's expression considerably, but there was still no smile on his face, whereas before he would've probably jumped around and hugged Kakashi with choking force and smiled so brightly he outshone the sun.

Still, it was a start.

"So get dressed and we'll go, I know a good place" Kakashi headed for Naruto's kitchen to give the boy his privacy "And don't forget the sunglasses."

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Sakura lifted her head. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night. It was hard to sleep. Every night she would see _him_ and every morning she would wake up and remember that he was gone, that he was dead. It broke her heart every single time.

The morning light filtered in through the curtains, annoyingly warm and bright and beautiful. It should be dark and miserable, raining preferably. The world should realise that such a tragedy had happened and respond in kind, not go on like nothing had happened.

But the world did go on.

Sakura hadn't spoken to her parents, though her mother had tried to coax her down for dinner yesterday. They didn't understand what was wrong, she hadn't told them what had occurred after all, but they didn't pester her. Sakura wasn't sure if she was grateful for that or not, at least if they had she could've gotten annoyed, instead she was just miserable, miserable as the day _should_ be.

She forced herself up, taking a moment to look in the mirror. She was a mess, her hair was bedraggled, it had lost its lustre and gotten tangled into a giant knot, her skin was pallid and sickly, she had dark bags under her eyes, and her eyes themselves where bloodshot.

But for once Sakura couldn't find it in herself to give a single damn about her appearance.

This room felt like it was suffocating her, and when she threw upon a window to reveal the bright new day it did little to help. She needed to get out of this room, out of the house preferably, but she didn't want to go out there into the bright cheery village, watching everyone else be happy while she was miserable.

Struck by a sudden revelation Sakura knew where she was going to go, somewhere that she knew well, somewhere that was quiet, somewhere that wasn't here. She stepped out of her room made her way out of her home as quietly as she could, not wanting to face her parents right now, and headed out to the Konoha Library.

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He watched as a subdued Naruto eat the rice, sip the miso soup, and chew on a pickled plum, and wondered once again how things had gotten fucked up so badly so quickly. Everything had been going… well, they hadn't exactly been going well but they'd been going and now they were fucked.

As they walked over here Kakashi could already hear gossip from those few up this early in the morning about the death of Sasuke Uchiha, a few even pointing out to him as Sasuke's sensei. Thankfully there weren't any rumours, yet, of Naruto possessing the Sharingan, but it was only a matter of time.

Keeping secrets in a Shinobi village was nigh on impossible. There were three things ninja excelled at, and two of them were sniffing out secrets and gossiping. The third was killing, obviously. Either way, secrets rarely stayed so in Konohagakure.

But this was a secret that Kakashi Hatake was going to try and keep that way, he wouldn't really _really _try, as that would involve 'silencing', i.e. killing, people who discovered the secret in question, but he would try.

As such the restaurant he picked was noted for being quiet, open all hours, had enclosed tables, and was relatively dark and dingy as well.

The miniskirt and slightly to tight white shirt wearing, perky and cheery waitresses didn't really suit the feel of the restaurant that implied a certain subdued moodiness, a place where illicit deals and secret rendezvous would occur, but the owner, who Kakashi knew in passing, was a pervert so they were stuck with it.

Not that he was complaining. Especially when the girl leaned over to place their dishes down, offering him a nice view down her barely button up shirt.

Should it worry him that he was able to so easily slip into his usual perversion so soon after the loss of a student instead of grieving and became very subdued and quiet for a good long while until Guy came along and kicked some sense into him, literally, and he made an amazing comeback with a new lease of life and a far stronger will?

Probably.

Kakashi considered his own breakfast, for a moment and when Naruto looked back up Kakashi was pulling up his mask, his plates and bowl practically licked clean they were so spotless.

"Ah, that was nice" Kakashi said, feeling quiet pleased with food in his stomach. He had skipped dinner yesterday, and he couldn't even keep count of the number of times they skipped meals on the road back. Lunch was pretty much non-existent during that period, breakfast was only if they felt up to it, and dinner was occasionally forgotten.

They had all been in a pretty bad way, and at least two of them still were, Kakashi didn't consider himself unbiased enough to judge whether or not he himself was still in a bad way or not.

"Those scrolls" he said quietly, his single visible eye scanning the restaurant "Sasuke told you were to find them?"

Naruto nodded after a moment, to figure out what Kakashi was taking about most likely "They were in his apartment… I kinda broke in."

Kakashi nodded. He honestly didn't care, and so long as no one who would care found out then it would be alright "And?"

The blonde shrugged "I read through the first one, and I'm not really sure. I mean it said something about kneading chakra into flames, but how do you do that? And there's some other stuff in there, fire jutsu, scrolls on the Sharingan, fighting with it, fighting against it, there's even a barrier jutsu in there."

"You started on the simplest?"

"Sasuke…" Naruto paused after saying the name, his face downturned "Sasuke used that jutsu, the err, Great Fireball? So I figured it'd be a good place to start, maybe I was wrong."

"Well make your own way through them. It's not something I can help you with."

Naruto looked rather shocked at that.

"What I mean is, those scrolls are yours now, they passed from Sasuke to you and, to be honest, I don't have any right to read them. I'm sure I could figure out all the jutsu in there given a couple of days, week tops, but they're not mine to learn. That said, if there's anything you don't understand feel free to consult me and I'll help you out."

Naruto nodded.

"Me and you, however, have other things to work on. I don't know if you realise this Naruto but those eyes will draw people to you. The Sharingan is famous, its abilities nigh on legendary, and you are going to need to get strong enough to defend yourself, or else someone is going to kill you and pluck those eyes from your corpse, do you understand?" there was a deadly serious expression on his face when the blonde haired Genin nodded. It was clear he understood and took this matter very seriously "Good. We have a month off, no missions, so in that time I'll be training you, and Sakura if she's… if she's able" he finally decided on 'able' as the best word. If she needed downtime then that's what she'd get, if she wanted training then he'd be happy to provide it, if she wanted emotional support then he'd mentally ask why the fuck she came to him but outwardly try his best to do so.

Naruto's expression saddened at the mention of Sakura.

"Naruto, don't take it too badly, Sakura will…" will what? Get over it? Forgive him? Forget about this? "No" he shook his head "I'm not going to lie to you. Sakura might never get over this, she might always blame you for Sasuke's death, but it was _not _your fault Naruto."

"It was" Naruto refuted "Sasuke… he pushed me out of the way of Zabuza's sword, he took the blow for me. It was my fault."

"It wasn't" Kakashi repeated "Naruto, Sasuke's death was not your fault, it wasn't Sakura's fault, it wasn't even Tazuna's fault. Sasuke died to save you, and Sasuke entrusted you with his hopes and dreams and eyes. Naruto, you don't need to repent for Sasuke's death. What you're doing is doing a friend a favour, thanking him for saving you maybe, but not punishing yourself for failing him. It is not your fault."

Naruto looked unconvinced but didn't argue.

"I'll have a talk with Sakura. Don't worry" Kakashi said suddenly, noticing the worry entering Naruto's expression "I'm not going to chastise or berate her, I'll try to comfort her and… and hopefully help her recover. Try and find her a goal, or maybe arrange for some counselling, or something along those lines. But back to the matter at hand, we're going to be training hard. I need you to get strong quickly, and also get smart. See if we can get this" he tapped the boy gently on the crown of his head "to work properly. But you, Naruto, need to be devoted, studious, and willing. I might teach you things you think are useless or worthless but you just gotta suck it up okay? Cause rest assured, I know best."

"I got it, sensei, I won't let you down, and I won't complain."

Kakashi smiled, now there was a line he truly believed "Of course I'll teach you cool stuff as well, I've got plenty of awesome ninjutsu for you to learn, we'll be working on your taijutsu naturally, and we'll see about getting you prepared on genjutsu, though you might not need it with those eyes. So it won't be all boring stuff."

Naruto nodded, a small grin on his face. He liked the sound of that.

"But first we have to waste an hour or two before your doctor's appointment" Kakashi smiled with his eye "So wanna got to a shop that has lots of pointy things?"

"Yeah!"

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Kakashi hadn't quiet realised just how tense it was going to be, sat here in the hospital waiting room, waiting for his student who was being examined by a doctor. His thoughts went wild. What if he had screwed up the operation and Naruto lost his sight? What if the Sharingan wouldn't work? What if something had gone wrong? What would he do? What could he do? Would Naruto be able to forgive him? Would he want Naruto to forgive him? Would he offer up Obito's eye as some sort of recompense? Would his sensei ever forgive him? Would he ever forgive himself?

These thoughts continued to run through his head all the while Naruto was away. He tried to listen to the banter of the group of Chunin who were waiting for a comrade who had a rather serious looking wound, he tried to read his book, he tried watching the skirts of nurses as they walked past, but nothing but worry over Naruto would stick in his head.

So it was a great relief when Naruto finally emerged with a professional looking, white lab coated doctor close behind, and offered Kakashi a small smile, so unlike his usual grin, but reassuring none the less.

"Kakashi Hatake, correct?" the Doctor asked, looking at his clipboard rather than the ninja in question. Though whether it was a question was up for debate as rather than wait for an answer the Doctor, who was likely a highly experienced medic ninja posing or genuinely working as a doctor, simply continued speaking "Given the circumstances in which the operation was performed I'd say you did an excellent job" Kakashi felt every bit of tension release from his body and he practically sank into the uncomfortable chair of the waiting room "There were a few tweaks to stabilize the eyes and acclimatize his mind, but other than that your work was impeccable. As for Uzumaki-san's condition, he doesn't appear to be suffering from any chakra exhaustion despite being unused to the eyes, and the eyes themselves seemed to have settled nicely. In general I'd say he's in pretty tip top shape" the doctor nodded satisfied "Though…"

"He could do with eating a more balanced diet and getting more exercise?"

The doctor blinked "Um… yes" he said unsurely, the words having been taken straight out of his mouth.

"You guys say that every time" Kakashi told him, his tone bordering on whining "Even when you have a perfectly balanced diet, and get plenty of exercise, it's still not enough."

The doctor/medic ninja chuckled "Its only advice" he said, shaking his head and grinning "Anyway, we'd like to bring Uzumaki-san back in at the end of the month" he spoke partly to Naruto and partly to Kakashi at this point "Or at any point should he experience pain or discomfort from his eyes or become exhausted. At any point" he reiterated sternly "After that I think it'd be best to schedule regular appointments every sixth months, or as close to that as is possible, to ensure there are no further problems" both student and sensei nodded, one feeling slightly annoyed as he didn't really like hospitals and the other that that was pretty standard and acceptable "Also, I'd advise no training for the day, while the adjustments I made settle in."

Once again student and sensei nodded, one feeling rather annoyed as he wanted to get straight into training, and the other not too bothered as he didn't intend to start training just yet.

"Good, I'll file a report with Hokage-sama and inform him of the results, and I'll see you again in a month Uzumaki-san" Naruto nodded at the doctor, who smiled back, before waving and heading back into the bowels of the hospital.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and eye smiled brightly "Well that took longer than I was expecting" he said cheerily. It had taken a little over two hours, for Kakashi every minute was tormenting, he could only imagine what it had been like for Naruto, having to sit still and conform to a bunch of tests and jump through hoops for the doctor. Naruto was not a conformist "How about we get lunch?"

"Ichiraku?" Naruto said instantly.

The silver haired Jonin chuckled lightly "Ichiraku" he agreed.

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Leaving Naruto with a small reminder of 'no training for the day' Kakashi made his way from Ichiraku with a full, contented belly. That ramen really was the best he'd ever tasted and while he wouldn't claim to be a ramen connoisseur by any means he liked to think that he knew a good bowl of ramen when he ate one… or two… or three.

Naruto on the other hand got through seven.

He headed off in search of his other student, with his nose deep in his book but his eye not seeing the words. Kakashi checked the Haruno family home and found no sign of Sakura but did find her worried parents instead, after a short, concise and somewhat blunt explanation he left them to continue his search. Not being entirely sure of where Sakura would go he checked everywhere he could think off.

The training grounds, the bridge that had become Team 7's meeting spot, the Academy, the shopping district, still no sign of Sakura _'If I were a young, pink haired Genin who had just lost the love of my life, where would I go?' _the memorial stone was where Kakashi would go, but he'd already checked there, and as Sasuke didn't have a grave yet she couldn't be there.

He considered checking the morgue, but Sakura didn't even know Sasuke was there so she probably wouldn't be in such a place.

'_What do I think off when I think of Sakura?' _he asked himself, searching for some clue as to where his Genin kunoichi was _'Cherry blossoms, pink hair, Sasuke, short temper…' _brushing away the fact that the impression she had left on her Jonin sensei was rather… well it left quite a bit to be desired, Kakashi quickly focused on what else he knew of Sakura.

It still took him around quarter of an hour to think of looking in the library.

"Hey Sakura" he said calmly, slipping into the chair across from her. She was sat at one of the many tables surrounded by books. They practically formed a wall around where she was sat there were so many of them and they were stacked so high.

She looked up from whatever she was reading and Kakashi had to bite back pity. She did not look well, was putting it light "Hi, sensei" Sakura said weakly "Um, I decided to read" she said, feeling the need to explain despite her book infected surroundings and the book she had been nose deep in reading making the explanation rather pointless.

"So I see."

Sakura wasn't sure what to say following that but felt that just diving straight back into her book would be rude so waited, and Kakashi wasn't really sure of what to say to her and so remained silent.

"Sakura" he finally began "I want you to know that… that I'm here for you. If you need someone to cry on, or someone to blame, someone to shout at and hate, I'm fine with being that person."

Sakura wasn't sure how to respond again and so didn't, she just sat silently.

Seeing that she had nothing to say Kakashi moved onto business "Team 7 has a month off, starting today" or was it yesterday? Ah well, he'd check later "In that time I intend to train Naruto…" it went without saying why Naruto needed training, besides his generally appalling skills there was the Sharingan he had recently come into possession off as well "and I want you to join us.

She looked a bit surprised at that, perhaps she thought he would give Naruto preferential treatment, and while he couldn't deny that he would, he wouldn't abandon his other student.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Sakura. Don't feel obligated or compelled to come. If you need time away… to grieve" he didn't really want to say it, as saying it reminded her of it which would in turn make her feel worse about it "then take it. But if you want, or need, to train, then come and find me" he stood "We'll be at the Third Training Ground every day, except maybe Sunday, might take that day off" Kakashi was making most of this up on the fly, he hadn't really planned out all the details yet "Come along if you want, don't if you don't."

He turned to leave, and was halfway past his chair when he was stopped.

"Sensei?"

"Yeah?" he asked casually, turning back to face her.

"What wi…" she gulped and steeled herself, but tears still built in her eyes "About Sasuke-kun's… Sasuke-kun's funeral."

"Ah…" Kakashi paused "I'm not sure when it will be myself to be honest. But the moment I do I'll tell you. Whether you come or not is…"

"I'm coming" she said instantly, her eyes downturned, her teeth gritted.

Kakashi nodded slowly. There was something he felt he needed to say, or hoped might help her, but he didn't want as it was rather uncomfortable. But for his students, Kakashi decided he'd withstand the discomfort "Sakura, I lost a teammate on a mission, the first mission where I was team leader, where I was responsible for their lives" he ran a hand through his silver hair "It was a long time ago but I carry that wound to this day…" he rubbed at his forehead protector, thinking of the scar beneath and the Sharingan eye as well "…literally and figuratively" he mused, before focusing "You might never recover from Sasuke's death, you might never be the same again, but you have your whole life ahead of you Sakura, you can either become a kunoichi that Sasuke would've been proud to work beside, or you can waste away and do nothing with your life" she flinched, but Kakashi wasn't done "And know this… No matter which you pick, I won't judge you for it."

He reached over the desk and patted her gently on her head, then left Sakura alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Hi again, the next chapter has been completed to my satisfaction... I think, I'm not entirely sure as I can't really be arsed reading through it all again. Someone mentioned in a review that they liked the fact that I didn't bash Sakura (or something along those lines) well this chapter might disappoint you, but I'd like to say that I'm not bashing her at all. Sakura's reaction, anger, and attitude is, in my opinion, completely understandable considering what's happened.

Anyway, if you feel like reviewing please do so, I'd like to know what you all think of this fic as that tells me whether or not I need to stop writing and start rewriting it.

Toodles.


	3. Despair to Determination

**Chapter 3: Despair to Determination.**

It an overcast day, the sky a deep dark grey, threatening rain. But it wasn't raining, not right now at least. It was a good day though… for a funeral.

The assembled mourners wore all black, simple outfits with no frills and no decorations, everyone was uniform and blank, and everyone's clothes were as black as their moods. Team 7 stood at the forefront of the crowd, nearest to the grave, and all seemed oddly colourless. Naruto's golden blonde hair seemed darker and more sedate, Sakura's bright pink looked a bit duller, even Kakashi's silver hair seemed a little less gravity defying today.

Briefly Sakura turned her eyes to the large, red, flame like statue at the far end of the cemetery. Kakashi told her it represented the 'Will of Fire' of the village, it wasn't a foreign concept, this 'Will of Fire', she'd heard about it before, but never really understood what it meant. She still didn't, just that many people considered it important.

Most of the graduating Genin teams were here. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and their Jonin sensei Asuma Sarutobi, as well as Hinata, Kiba and Shino, whose sensei was Kurenai Yuhi, even the Third Hokage himself had come, dressed not in his hat and robes but in plain black like the rest, looking more like the old man he was in truth than she had ever seen before. There were a few others who had been, or at least considered themselves, close to Sasuke, some she didn't know at all, but most were from their academy class.

Sakura couldn't, for the life of her, remember any of their names, and she had an exceptionally good memory. Maybe it was just that right now, in the present situation, she didn't remember, or maybe it was that she left that part of her life behind when she became a ninja, or maybe it was that that part of her life was ripped away when Sasuke died.

Maybe it was all of them, maybe it was none. She didn't care.

She glanced at Naruto to her side. He wore the black sunglasses Kakashi had given him before they returned to the village, hiding the eyes that now burned in his sockets, hiding Sasuke's Sharingan. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, his face was inscrutable and given that the Naruto she knew wore his heart on his sleeve it was an odd sight. But she didn't care all that much about that either.

'_Just let it end…' _she didn't want to be here, stood before the grave of her teammate, stood before Sasuke's grave. She wanted to go home and curl up under her covers and cry. She wanted to lose herself in a book. She wanted to be anywhere, anywhere but here.

No words were spoken, no speech was given, everyone was given an opportunity to approach the grave, make their peace, lay a flower, then return to the assembled mourners, that was all. Sakura had spent only a few moments knelt at his grave, laying his flower and leaving shortly after, unable to bear drawing out this final goodbye.

Kakashi's hand on her shoulder made her truly feel better, her emotions were no less prevalent or powerful, but it was like his strength was flowing through his hand into her, as if the simple act of touching her shoulder was a promise of eternal support, should she need it. She was grateful, that he was here, that he was her sensei, that he cared.

But Sasuke was dead.

Sakura bit back her tears, literally biting her lip to hold them back. She spared Naruto another glance, but his face was still just a blank mask, but she noticed his fists were clenched, his knuckles white, and a shiver would pass through them every so often. Sakura doubted that shiver was from the cold.

Time seemed to crawl along as everyone took their turn. Ino burst into tears at his grave and had to be carried away to be comforted by her sensei and team. Sakura felt a momentary burst of pride that she had at least managed to make it back on her own, then felt disgusted for feeling pride at such a thing.

Some people spent only moments, whether they had little to say or think, were only here as a courtesy, or, like her, couldn't bare it, Sakura honestly didn't care. She just wanted there to be no one left so that she could run away and go home.

Finally it drew to an end, people left, leaving her, Kakashi and Naruto alone.

Sakura glanced to the side again as Naruto moved, taking off the sunglasses and moving to stand before Sasuke's grave again. Kakashi gave her a gentle push and she followed after the blonde, standing next to him, with Kakashi stood behind them both.

The Sharingan looked upon the grave with a soft and sombre gaze, the burning red eyes seemed to only glow like embers instead of blaze like a fire. Naruto's shivers got worse, his hands shaking, then he gulped and they stopped "Sasuke" he spoke out loud, for their benefit or for his own Sakura wasn't certain "You know I… I always admired you."

Sakura blinked, shocked at such words coming out of Naruto's mouth.

"I wanted to be your friend, I always wanted to be your friend, because you were like me, you were all alone too. It made me… happy. Happy that there was someone else like me" he laughed bitterly, his laughter sounding somehow like sobs "Happy that there was someone else as alone as me. But I... I was jealous of you. You were good at everything, skilled, strong, smart, popular, everything I wanted to be… so, I made you my rival. You were my goal, I wanted to be like you" he sniffed "I… always wanted that… to catch up to you, to make you recognise me, to…" his breathing had grown ragged and Naruto took a pause to calm it down "Sasuke… I'll make you proud" he didn't say anything more.

"_You can either become a kunoichi that Sasuke would've been proud to work beside, or you can waste away and do nothing with your life" _Sakura felt like someone had punched her in the stomach as those words hit her, she tried to do as Naruto had done and gulp back her feelings. It didn't work.

Several moments passed in silence, finally broken by Kakashi "Come on" he tapped them both gently on the shoulder, easily getting the Genin to follow him, wherever he was leading them.

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Sakura looked around the small dingy bar, uncertain as to why they were here. They were sat at a closed off table that afforded them some privacy, the bar's name was Uisuki-Kawa, and it was located down a dead end back alley off of one of Konoha's main streets, she knew that, but why was a question she had no answer to.

"It's a tradition" Kakashi said after ordering something, she hadn't been paying attention to that, instead looking at their surroundings, and then staring intently at the table's surface "from back in the days when losing a comrade was commonplace. Not something I always do… but I feel like it today."

She still didn't know what it was, and was about to voice that question when a pale white ceramic bottle and a small bowl like saucer were placed in front of her, and in front of Naruto, and in front of Kakashi.

"We drink" he told them, gently tipping the bottle so that its content poured in a steady stream into the cup "And we remember all the good times, and we can remember the bad too if you want, but we remember, and…"

"That's it" Kakashi stopped and looked up at Sakura, whose face was shadowed by her hair "Your big plan is for us to get drunk, and think about Sasuke, is that it?" her tone was low and angry. Why, why was their sensei such an insensitive jerk?!

"Yeah" Kakashi said softly, sipping at his drink without taking off his mask and somehow not getting his mask wet.

Sakura stood and made to leave. She didn't want this, she just wanted to be alone, let them have their little memorial party without her.

"Sakura" but Kakashi voice stopped her "Sit" she obeyed, despite not wanting to, and despite it not sounding much like an order, more like a plea "Drink" he told her. She didn't instantly obey and he continued "Cry if you need to, hit if you want to, laugh if you feel like it, smile if you can't help it, because tomorrow Sasuke will still be dead. Tonight we remember him, so that we might never forget."

Sakura looked down at her cup and saucer and, with hesitant hands, poured herself a small dose of clear drink. Beside her Naruto did the same, and they both drank their first alcoholic drink in their lives together "Blergh!" and they both had pretty much the same reaction to the taste.

Kakashi smiled at their reaction, but even he didn't feel like laughing, not today, while normally he might even be falling out of his seat in laughter, depending on how much he wanted to annoy them. Not today.

They took a second sip, their faces contorting in disgust, but they both drank.

And Kakashi started it off, once they were all a little tipsy. He spoke of the bell test, how much Sasuke impressed him then, but also about Sasuke's flaws, his arrogance, his overconfidence, and his unwillingness to rely on others. Naruto spoke of his first ever spar against Sasuke back in the Academy, and what he had seen then, the hatred in his eyes, that overwhelming hatred, but not hatred directed at Naruto. Sakura spoke of how she had first gained her long standing crush, the childish reasons for it, and how she broke her friendship with Ino because of it.

Together they laughed, and they cried, and they reminisced, and they got drunk, and they laughed some more, drank some more, reminisced some more, and cried some more.

Together.

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It was nine when Sakura finally woke up, wondering how she had ended up in her own bed in her own room in her own home when the last thing she remembered was passing out moments before her forehead slammed into the table. She just had the time to wonder that, before the pounding of her head hit her full force, and the queasiness of her stomach made her run for the bathroom.

'_I am never drinking again' _she decided as she emptied the contents of her stomach, which was mainly liquid the vast majority of which felt like bile as it burned her throat and mouth, down the toilet.

After coughing, hacking and spitting whatever else she could, Sakura flushed the loo and washed her mouth, first swirling it with water, then cleaning her teeth, then again with water which she gulped down to try and ease the stinging in her throat and tonsils.

Every sound, sight, smell, even texture was agony for her mind, and the recurrent pounding was both painful and irritating bordering on infuriating and making her feel queasy.

Part of her wanted something to eat, the other part wanted nothing to do with food whatsoever.

She returned to her room, pulling the curtains shut and lying back down, burying her head in her pillow and pulling the blanket over her head to try and lessen the pain. Briefly Sakura wondered how her teammate and sensei were coping.

She thought about the time, then all of a sudden the discomfort she felt seemed negligible and she sat up.

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Kakashi watched as Naruto ran around the Third Training Ground, with what would appear to be forearm and foreleg bands but where in fact training weights. They had only started training three days ago, the first of those days consisted of a long and very boring lecture about the Sharingan and its abilities and limitations. The second got them started on the physical conditioning program Kakashi was setting Naruto on, and he also taught Naruto a single jutsu as a reward for his stalwart, and uncomplaining, efforts. The third, which was yesterday, consisted of one morning as in the afternoon they attended Sasuke's funeral. Kakashi would've let him off for the entire day, but he doubted Naruto would thank him for it, and all the blonde had to do was ask and Kakashi would've given him it.

Naruto didn't ask.

He taught Naruto a jutsu that morning, out of the hope that it would distract him for a while, and it worked, Naruto was distracted… for a while.

He was working on Naruto's speed and reaction time first, given that a faster opponent was the bane of any Sharingan user. It was doubly galling to both be hit by an enemy and see the attack coming, try to dodge it, only to find out you were too slow and be hit by it. But a physical conditioning program would not have instant results, and it was instant results Naruto wanted, hence why Kakashi had decided to teach Naruto one jutsu a day, which gave him at least a thousand days to instil into the blonde the importance of physical conditioning.

The silver haired Jonin chuckled. He had no chance.

Once they'd gotten into the theme of things with this he'd begin working on other things such as stealth, tactics, observation, and other things shinobi needed for their line of work. Things Naruto would need if he wanted to survive, and things he would doubly need with Sasuke's eyes drawing enemies to him. One enemy in particular was of concern to Kakashi, above all the rest.

Itachi Uchiha.

How would the man who had slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, save for his younger brother, leaving only him alive with traumatic memories and the only thing to live for being a thirst for vengeance, react to the fact that Sasuke was now dead and Naruto was in possession of his eyes?

It wouldn't be long before the Hokage had to announce it, before people learned through gossip and had their opinions tainted. Even now rumours were going around that Sasuke's eyes weren't on his corpse, that the Sharingan had been removed. Few connected it with Naruto though and that particular rumour was spoken mostly in jest, or to making disparaging remarks about the blonde, when it was spoken at all.

Once the announcement was made all hell would break loose and it would be Kakashi's job to make sure no one, and he meant no one, tried to harm his students. Either of them.

'_Maybe it's time I take Guy up on that offer of early morning training' _it wasn't the first time in the past few days he had thought that. In fact he'd thought that back in the Land of Waves, when he realised just how out of shape he was. Lacking a war and the constant danger it brought Kakashi had lost his razor sharp edge, and while he was still sharper than most he was not good enough to keep Naruto protected from the kinds of people who would want those eyes.

Not all of them anyway, most he could easily dispose of, but some…

Resolving to speak to Guy in the next few days, he'd have to make sure it didn't interfere with his training with Naruto though, and they started at nine and ended sometime around teatime, and Kakashi suspected Naruto remained long after that, and knew he arrived at least two hours beforehand, Kakashi refocused on his student, pondering which jutsu to teach him today.

So far he had taught Naruto the Lightning Release: Shocking Palm, a useful technique that covered the users hand in a field of electricity that could be used to either zap or thoroughly electrocute anyone the hand touched, and the Water Release: Wild Water

Naruto had shown some hesitance in learning a water jutsu, maybe he associated it with Zabuza, either way after Kakashi soaked him to the bone with the technique a few times, and possibly partially drowned him as well, he quickly lost that hesitance.

The reason why he had chosen those two was because they were a good combo, using the water to conduct the lightning. He hoped Naruto would figure that out, or else he'd have to tell him, but for now Kakashi would give him the chance to find out for himself. It was important not only to obtain knowledge from others, but also to figure things out for yourself.

Naruto ran past him again, on lap thirteen of his fifty lap run, once he was a short distance away Kakashi turned to look into the trees "Sakura" he said calmly, the pink haired girl emerging as her name was called "How are you?"

"Not too well" Sakura responded, which made Kakashi rather sad "Me and alcohol don't get along too well" his sadness didn't go, just as the fact that she really wasn't well in more than one sense of the word wouldn't go, but he did chuckle "You're a really bad example sensei, making your underage students drink."

He didn't respond to that, as the only response he had was the clichéd 'Old enough to kill old enough to drink' instead he turned back to watch Naruto's fading back.

"He sure does have a lot of energy" Sakura mused, standing beside him. Naruto was drunk as a skunk last night, probably woke up with a worse headache than she, he certainly drank more than she, and yet was still up and ready to go at an even earlier time than this.

"That he does" he agreed.

"Sensei?" Kakashi gave Sakura his full undivided attention, trying to make her feel like he was listening. He was always listening of course, but he wanted her to think that he was as well "I… I've been doing some reading" she said "You already know that though" they had met in the library with her surrouned by books after all "Um…" Sakura fiddled with her hands for a while "I…" but she overcame her hesitance and faced him with determination and guts "I want to learn medical ninjutsu."

Kakashi's eye widened, then he nodded. That was understandable. She had seen a comrade die in front of her, not wanting that to happen again was normal, and for a smart girl like Sakura learning about medical ninjutsu wouldn't be too hard. Actually learning medical ninjutsu however was a lot harder.

"That's a fine ambition, Sakura" he told her "Unfortunately I don't know much about medical ninjutsu."

Sakura's blinked "But… that jutsu you used…"

"I learned that because of… personal circumstance" his hand being placed upon the forehead protector covered eye gave Sakura a hint as to his 'personal circumstance', that wasn't Kakashi intention he just placed his hand there for… comfort, he supposed, but it informed her whether he intended to or not.

"I… I see" she looked down, disheartened.

"The hospital sometimes does courses on medical ninjutsu" she perked up "But they're not usually open to Genin" and back down again "Rookie Genin especially" and even further down "But…" Sakura looked up at him with hopeless eyes "But I'll get you onto the course, whether it's currently running or not. I'll find someone there who will train you, I promise" and if he had to threaten someone with death, castration, or mutilation to get what he wanted, then he would bloody well would.

"I… thank you" she said, tears in her eyes which she hurried to wipe away.

"It won't be easy Sakura" he warned, hoping she understood the seriousness of this, of all of this, she should do with what she's seen, but the girl who was more focused on boys than ninja training was not who he wanted to be teaching, or obtaining teaching for "training rarely is, and there's a reason so few ninja become medics. It's a difficult path, and a long one too. There might not be any instant results, you'll have to work hard and keep working and you might never realise that you're getting better because your progress is so slow. Can you accept that?"

She nodded, her expression serious, her green eyes determined.

"Good" he saw no falsity in her eyes, and gained a warm feeling of pride for Sakura, marred by the cold feeling of why she was trying so hard "Don't think that _I_ will ignore your training either. I'll speak to someone at the hospital and arrange a schedule, and on your free days you'll be training with me and Naruto. We'll start with physical conditioning" Naruto ran past, noticing Sakura but not stopping in his run or giving her more than a glance "I also know some genjutsu that could be useful for you, and a variety of other things" from asthmatics and asexual reproduction, to zoos and zealotry, Kakashi's experiences as a ninja were exceptionally varied, and he resolved to pass on some of that experience to his two Genin "For now, get running after Naruto. You can stop after twenty laps."

"Yes sir!"

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"How…" Sakura began hesitantly, staring into the bowl of noodles and broth in her lap "How are you?" she asked, not looking up. They hadn't spoken at all during training, and while Naruto didn't seem bothered by this lack of conversation, relieved if anything, it felt uncomfortable to Sakura. But it was more comfortable than actually trying to talk to him she now realised.

Naruto blinked, wondering if she was talking to him. Sensei was face deep in his book, having consumed his ramen in a flash, so only he was listening but "I… uh…" Naruto scratched at the back of his head. How was he? Was she asking about right now or… more generally "I'm… " he scratched the back of his head "I'm okay… I guess" he finished uncertainly.

"I… see…" Sakura didn't say any more, but started into her own ramen. Kakashi-sensei had brought it from a local restaurant that Naruto apparently liked 'To keep him motivated for the rest of the day' he had explained to her. Sakura didn't mind ramen, it wasn't something she particularly liked, but it wasn't something she disliked either.

Kakashi peered over his book, noticing the awkward mood and wishing he could change it. But he could only provide distraction, and that was exactly what he was going to do "Naruto, how are getting along with those fire jutsu?" the boy had been trying since the day they started training, and possibly before if he hadn't listened to the doctor's advice. He hadn't had much luck however, most of the time ending up coughing or huffing out smoke…

"I think I got it."

…so Naruto saying that had him noticeably shocked, for a moment at least.

"I uh… I tried it yesterday, after you had left…" Naruto explained "…and, well, I got fire at least."

"Oh? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I told you to go home, shower, and get changed?" he said with mock displeasure. He doubted Naruto knew it was mock however. Yesterday, Sasuke's funeral, they had split up around lunch time to get ready for the afternoon, Naruto must've kept training for a while. It didn't really bother Kakashi, but he didn't want Naruto to burn out either so he'd try to keep the blonde from going full steam all of the time.

Naruto laughed nervously, but didn't look overly bothered, or more like he didn't really care.

"After lunch you're going to show me your progress, alright?" Naruto nodded "Good. Sakura, if you're still up for it there's more training for you as well" given that she had nearly collapsed during her twenty lap run he didn't hold out much hope, and so was once again shocked when she nodded, and once again just for a moment.

'_I'll talk to someone at the hospital about Sakura later this evening… but the question is, who? Do I pick someone I know and risk a rejection that I can't threaten them out of, or do I pick someone I don't and possibly have to threaten them when I could've just guilt tripped someone else into helping me. Well, I guess I'll just look for someone skilled at medical ninjutsu, maybe whoever runs those courses' _he would give Sakura whatever opportunities he could to make her into a medical ninja like she wanted.

Whether she took them and thrived in that environment was up to her.

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Kakashi left the hospital with a skip in his step, whistling a jaunty tune. So he had just threatened to disembowel someone, that someone being a comrade in arms. Who cared? Kakashi certainly didn't.

Sakura would be trained in medical jutsu, if she couldn't keep up with the training she'd be kicked out and Kakashi wouldn't throw up a fuss, or disembowel him, or do anything else to physically or emotionally harm him, that was the agreement they had come to after some bartering and the afore mentioned threat of disembowelment.

"Senpai, is there a reason you just threatened one of Hokage-sama's valued medics?"

Kakashi smiled, recognising the voice "Tenzo, been a long time."

"Indeed" a cat masked ANBU stepped from the shadows of a back alley "Hokage-sama sent me to inform you that the meeting you have discussed will take place tomorrow, eleven o'clock. He wanted you to know that he cannot afford to put it off any longer. Now, will you explain why you're threating people, or do I need to report this to Hokage-sama?"

"I don't really care one way or another" Kakashi said, pulling out his book "I just wanted my student trained. He was uncooperative, so I made him cooperative. Standard procedure."

"Standard procedure" Tenzo repeated, though his sounded a lot more mocking than Kakashi's which had sounded vaguely serious "I'll keep quiet about this, for old times sake" he told Kakashi "But…"

"...if he asks, you'll tell him a heartbeat" Kakashi finished for him "I know, and I'd expect nothing less. In fact I'd be disappointed if you even considered doing anything different."

Though it wasn't visible Tenzo rolled his eyes "It was nice talking with you again, senpai."

"Yeah" Kakashi agreed "Let's hang out sometime, go for a drink, get something to eat, something like that."

Tenzo frowned. It wasn't like Kakashi to be sociable, so maybe he was joking? But Tenzo liked to think he knew when his senpai was joking, having long experience with the man, and he didn't think Kakashi was "I… I'd like that" he eventually responded "Senpai" he said by way of farewell, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Now then" Kakashi said, returning his book back to his pouch "Time to check on Naruto, make sure he hasn't collapsed" it was nearing seven so it was unlikely. Naruto probably had a couple more hours left in him before he got that far, but better safe than sorry. And he could always read a chapter or two of his book while waiting for the inevitable collapse.

That would kill two birds with one stone, he needed to get caught up with his reading. He hadn't had much time for it recently after all.

'_But before I do that' _Kakashi decided, changing his direction away from the training ground, to a different training ground_ 'I think I'll go have that chat I've been meaning to have with Guy. It's time I stepped up my own training.'_

He wasn't going to lose another students, he wouldn't let either of those two idiotic little Genin die before he did, preferably they'd both with children to carry on their legacy, having achieved great things with their lives, and pass on in old age surrounded by their families. But not before him they wouldn't.

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They gathered in the meeting hall used for more formal occasions such as this, the one big enough to contain every Jonin presently in the village. Those out on assignment, or who were unable to attend, would be officially informed once they returned, they'd probably hear it on the grapevine long before that though.

All the information passed to the Jonin would inevitably trickle down to the Chunin as well as those Genin who had Jonin sensei, who in turn would spread it to the rest of the Genin would in turn would inform any Chunin left out of the lope, all of whom would likely inform civilians or be overheard and thus the entire village would know.

Unless the Hokage didn't want them to, in which case everyone would keep their mouths tightly shut, or else.

As it was, Kakashi expected that this particular news wouldn't be deemed that secret and so would naturally filter through to the rest of the village, which in turn would likely cause problems for Naruto. Thinking that, the Jonin sighed with his book in front of his face, usually a source of extreme comfort, now simply a distraction.

Kakashi would deal with what problems he could, but he couldn't make people think and feel what he wanted them too, not legally anyway, he could torture them until they agreed but that was frowned upon, frowned upon as someone was executing you that is, so Naruto would face perhaps even more discrimination and hatred than he already did and there was nothing Kakashi could do.

"What's this meeting about?" he heard a Jonin next to him ask.

"Sasuke Uchiha, probably. You hear he died?"

"Fighting Zabuza Momochi, right? That Seven Swordsman guy."

"Just a rumour. His funeral was yesterday, but no one knows exactly what happened."

"He's was on a team with _that boy_ wasn't he?" another voice piped in.

"Yeah, _Naruto Uzumaki_" the name was spat more than said.

"You think _he_ had anything to do with this?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if _he _was responsible for the whole event. Probably wanted the Uchiha dead, damn fo…"

"Shhh!" he was immediately shushed before he could say 'that', if he had said that Kakashi would've had reason to punish him for technically breaking the law. He hadn't, unfortunately, so ripping out his tongue would be frowned upon. Kakashi's eye trained upon one word of his book, one word he'd quite like to call everyone one of them who had participated in that conversation, to their faces.

Cunt.

"Ahem" the elderly man clearing his throat silenced them all, even Kakashi stood up a little straight and lowered his book ever so slightly, to show that he was paying attention. It looked like he wasn't, but in reality he was "Eleven days ago Sasuke Uchiha was killed in combat against the Missing Ninja Zabuza Momochi" the Hokage stated, though everyone already knew most of that, this was just confirmation "He died defending his teammates and is a hero who should be remembered as such."

There was a small stirring at that, that particular fact had not been spread around it seemed.

"Furthermore" but the Hokage's voice shut them all up "before his death Sasuke Uchiha passed on his Sharingan to his teammate… Naruto Uzumaki."

Outrage. That was the only word that could describe the reaction, following a brief stunned silence.

"The fox has the Sharingan?"

"Unacceptable!"

"He probably killed Sasuke to obtain them!"

Muttering's like this and shouts of anger continued for a longer while and it took Kakashi a moment to figure out why the words of his book weren't staying still. His hand was shaking rather violently, shaking in an anger that he hadn't even noticed until now, but now that he did his teeth clenched, his grip tightened, and…

"SILENCE!" the Hokage quieted the room before he could lash out, and he was going to "Sasuke Uchiha asked for this, in his final moments he made this request, it was his dying wish. We have no right to overturn his decision any more than we had when it was Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha's eye" all eyes were turned to Kakashi, who casually flipped over a page, wanting to rip out more than a few throats "I will treat this event no differently than a weapon being passed from one shinobi to the next" and neither should you, was left unsaid, and unheard by most.

Kakashi felt his teeth grit again.

"That is all, you are dismissed" the Hokage said, his voice losing it power and strength and sounding weary as he dismissed them. Jonin broke off into groups and filed out, some using the Body Flicker to leave, others using the door, a few using the window. Kakashi remained where he was, standing with his book in his hand.

"Kakashi" he looked up at Guy who was stood directly in front of him, the 'youthful' man's voice lacking its usual enthusiasm. He had understood the severity of the situation when Kakashi had visited him yesterday, but he hadn't been informed of this. It was almost touching that he was worried, but Kakashi wasn't interested in it.

"Guy" he greeted his longstanding rival calmly, giving him just one glance before returning to his book "I'll talk to you later Guy" he told the Beautiful Green Beast, stepping past "Tomorrow morning should do. We're meeting at five, right?"

"Yes, we are" Guy declared with all his usual vigour returned "Don't be later my eternal rival!"

"I got it" Kakashi walked forwards towards the Hokage, ignoring Asuma and Kurenai who looked like they wanted to talk, but left seeing that he didn't "Hokage-sama."

"Kakashi" the aging Hokage greeted him, age shining through "It makes a general sad to see hatred and bigotry run so deep in the hearts of his own men, it makes a father sad to see his children treating one of their own like they are nothing more than scum, and it makes me sad that I cannot change their minds."

Kakashi nodded silently. He personally, as a comrade, not as a general or a father, wanted to painfully torture the vast majority of them until they understood just what Naruto had gone through. But sadly that was a crime, and he couldn't exactly help his students from prison, or the afterlife, so he would have to restrain himself.

"Look after him Kakashi" the Hokage continued after a moment "Naruto is strong, he has withstood so much hatred for so many years and strives for acceptance, never giving in to the urge to return that hatred, never surrendering. But Sasuke death will have hit him hard, he always did look up to the boy, even if he never admitted it" the Hokage's eyes grew distant, lost in a memory from long ago, of a boy telling him of his exploits and of his chosen rival. He shook his head "He will face hate, discrimination, foul looks and insults, even from his own comrades. Keep him focused on his goal and don't let him look around at the people staring at him with cold heartless eyes."

Kakashi nodded "I will…" there was a gap in the conversation "He did admit it" that Kakashi broke "That he admired Sasuke. He said so yesterday, at Sasuke's funeral."

The Hokage's eyes widened, then he smiled a soft and sad but also pleased and proud "He did, did he? I see…" he chuckled quietly and sombrely "Good… very good" _'Naruto… you've grown haven't you? Even so… I wish it were not like this.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Yo, guys" Kakashi greeted his team with cheer, unlike the both of them who looked miserable and uncomfortable. Well Sakura did at least, Naruto was already training, using his Shadow Clones as targets he was perfecting his skills with shuriken and kunai. Kakashi felt like praising him for that, they hadn't touched upon weapons at all but Naruto started work independently, which showed good initiative. He really should praise Naruto for that.

He didn't, however.

"Sakura, here's your timetable" he tossed her a slip of paper that had been hurriedly written yesterday. Sakura would be working nine to five on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and would be working half of Saturday, which left Kakashi three and a half days to work with. He quickly listed Sunday as a free day, for both of them. If they wanted to train independently he wouldn't stop them but he wouldn't train them either.

They needed some down time after all.

"You start on that schedule tomorrow" this had all been pleasantly gone over with the medic ninja he had spoken to/threatened. After they got past the 'Do you know how much pain I can cause you without leaving any trace upon your corpse that it was me? Do you have any idea how hard it will be to connect a crime like that to me? Do you want to find out?' they had a rather pleasant, if somewhat frigid, conversation "Today you can either train with me and Naruto, or take a break."

"I'll train" she said quickly.

"Alright then" Naruto had stopped and walked over to join them "Sakura, on Mondays and Tuesdays I'll be working with you, through a Shadow Clone, on things like physical conditioning, genjutsu, and anything else relevant" the list of relevant things was too long to go into "I'll also give you some homework, books I want you to read, that sort of thing. On Saturday morning's we'll do some light training, so that you're not conked out in the afternoon. And you have Sunday off" he continued before she could complain "The same applies to you Naruto, Sunday off."

"Through a Shadow Clone?" Sakura frowned, feeling slightly put out "I see."

"Sakura, a Shadow Clone is practically like being trained by me. I mean the number of times I've left Naruto alone with one so that I can read some of my book…" could be counted on one hand, but he didn't mention that, instead shaking his head "Anyway, the Shadow Clone technique is good for training as I can keep up to date with what's going on. You see when a Shadow Clone dispels all the information it has gained is transferred back to the original, as well as to any other clones created, that way I can learn how you've been doing, observe your training in depth, but still train both of you at once."

"Wait" Naruto spoke up, drawing both Kakashi and Sakura's attention "The Shadow Clone Jutsu can do all of that?"

Kakashi blinked "You… didn't… know?"

"No, not at all, I didn't know it could do any of that!" he cried, looking amazed and annoyed "Wow, it's a really amazing jutsu, huh? I mean you could use it for scouting without risking yourself, or for feeling out an opponent. Damn, if only I'd known about that sooner!"

Kakashi laughed and patted Naruto on the head "And that's what you get for not reading the full description of a jutsu" _'And a forbidden technique that you can use to a level that no one else in the village can is what you get for stealing the Scroll of Seals, the penalty for which would've been death in just about any other scenario. Naruto you have the best and worst luck' _he paused… his thoughts grinding to a halt.

Shadow Clones… training… memory transfer…

"Give me a minute" he said to his two student, walking over to one of the three posts. He then proceeded to hit his head against the post until he was bleeding and possibly concussed and only then walked back "Sorry about that. Where were we?" _'WHY? Why didn't I think of that sooner dammit!' _he shouted at himself mentally, keeping a calm façade on the surface, despite the blood trickling down his face_ 'If Naruto used the Shadow Clones to train himself… combine that with the Sharingan… he'll become fucking awesome! Calm down Kakashi' _he shouted at himself, mentally _'A Genin suddenly obtaining that much power might not be a good thing. But Naruto needs strength anyway…' _he sighed _'Ah well, I guess I'll wait for him to figure it out for himself. If he can then that's how we roll, until then we'll stick to what we're doing. It's not like progress is bad with our current method after all.'_

Naruto and Sakura shared a confused, bemused and worried look, but they were quickly interrupted by Kakashi finding the plot of the conversation again.

"Right so that's that. Naruto we'll be training the full week, all days except Sunday. I expect you here by nine" '_But you'll be here by seven' _"And we'll be training until at least six" _'Though you'll probably stay training until you collapse at around nine or ten, then I'll have to carry you back home' _they had only had it for a few days, this strange system, but already it felt like clockwork "So, are you two happy with that? No complaints, worries, anything like that?" they shook their heads "Good, then we can get started. Sakura I want you to make twenty laps of the training grounds."

"Yes sir" Sakura said before setting off.

Kakashi then turned to his other student "Naruto… Naruto there's something we need to talk about for a sec. It shouldn't take long."

Naruto nodded.

"The fact that you possess the Sharingan has been revealed to the Jonin of the village, it'll likely be known by the entire village before tomorrow. This means you won't have to wear those sunglasses anymore" he said cheerfully "Wearing sunglasses indoors makes you look like an idiot anyway. But it…" he grew sombre "it also means that you might face…"

"Sensei" Naruto's voice cut through his hesitant words "I don't care."

Kakashi blinked.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks, I don't give a damn what they say to me, or how they look at me, I just… I just have to get stronger" he touched his cheek, just below the Sharingan eyes "For Sasuke… Sasuke, who acknowledged me, for him I have to get stronger, so that I can kill Itachi Uchiha!"

He ignored the shiver that ran down his spine, the fear that Naruto would become what he feared Sasuke would've become, this was Naruto, after all, even if he had the Sharingan this was still Naruto, and Kakashi eye smiled "Just warning you. Naruto I want seventy five laps out of you today, and I want them finished a damn sight quicker than yesterday. Hop to it!"

"Yes sir!"

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Sakura had always had a good head on her shoulders. Even as a child she had enjoyed learning simply because she excelled it. Her mind absorbed knowledge like a sponge, and her exceptional memory rarely forgot anything. Sure she wasn't the most physically active person, but the mind was more important for a ninja, or so she had thought.

But on that mission all her knowledge, all her know how, all her memory was worthless. On that mission she froze up, she got scared, and she did little besides stand there holding a kunai, praying no one attacked.

Sakura wasn't so arrogant as to think that she had turned over a new leaf know, she was still the same but she was trying to get better. When sensei set her a task she didn't complain, she completed it. When her body wanted to give up she put the brain behind her overly large forehead to work and willed herself on. And it worked, for the most part.

But after two weeks as a trainee medic ninja she felt ready to collapse.

Working nine to five wasn't so bad, remembering the names of herbs and the correct way of bandaging and stitching wounds wasn't hard, it was the constant fetching of this that and the other, running back and forth, delivering messages here there and everywhere. Carrying, retrieving, holding, and being expected to observe operations at the same time, that was what was expected of her.

The first day was fine, the second was okay, the third was hard, the fourth was alright but it was just a morning, and the second week was hell. She rested on Sunday, trained with Kakashi Monday and Tuesday and after those two she felt exhausted and then the next day, her fifth in medic ninja training, was hell.

Funnily enough though, what got her through this, was Naruto.

Every time she felt like giving up she remember him, with Sasuke's eyes, working twice as hard as her in half the time. She felt inferior to him when they trained together. Naruto was stronger than her, faster than her, and could keep going all day if required too while she'd feel like giving up after a few hours, and she was only doing half the work he was.

They didn't train together much though, the real Kakashi would stick with Naruto and teach him about the Sharingan or about jutsu or about whatever it was Kakashi was teaching Naruto, Sakura didn't know and hadn't asked, while a clone would head into the woods with her and begin schooling her in genjutsu, chakra control, physical fitness, survival, strategy, trap making, tactical retreats, just about everything was what she was learning, or at least it felt like it.

She had felt rather put out upon learning that Kakashi wouldn't be teaching her personally, feeling like she was getting the short end of the stick. Now though… short end or not it was plenty long enough for her.

Still, her seventh day as a medic ninja was over and all she wanted to do was go home and have a bath then have a small dinner, then bed. She had her eight day tomorrow, but it was only a afternoon, and there'd be light training in the morning, but that would be fine. It was usually tactics, strategizing, and that sort of thing on a Saturday, maybe some genjutsu, and sometimes they'd play shogi, sometimes go, sometimes chess, sometimes poker. It was all important according to Kakashi.

"Sakura" Sakura groaned. It wasn't that it was voice she didn't particularly want to hear, it was just that any voice meant more time spent away from her bed.

Still she forced her best smile, which wasn't much "Hey Ino. You guys heading back from a mission?"

Behind the blonde Shikamaru and Choji stood, one staring at the sky and looking dead on his feet, not because he had done anything but just because he was that lazy, the other was munching on chips and seemed quite happy to stand about so long as he could keep eating "Yeah" Ino said, offering her a smile "We had to dig out levee's for this old guy, still don't know what they were for."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes _'Because the nearby river is reaching its flood period… but it'd be too troublesome to say that' _Shikamaru only knew it because he had asked Asuma why. Ino had been too busy whining about her clothes getting muddy to listen.

Sakura winced, feeling Ino's pain. It was horrible when your best clothes were ruined on a mission, which was part of the reason why she'd started wearing second best, and then third best, and then forth, and by now she no longer really cared what she wore so long as she didn't mind it getting ruined.

Even though not too long ago they'd been 'rivals' soon enough Sakura and Ino were engaged in conversation as they walked along. Both stayed well clear of subjects neither wanted to broach and talking about safe things, the weather, clothes, missions, and…

"What's going on over there?" Shikamaru asked, looking through a small crowd. It wasn't a crowd so much as a collection of people slowing down to look but not stopping. A few had stopped but not enough to be called a crowd. And through the gaps in the 'crowd' Shikamaru spotted a spiky blonde head.

"Naruto?" Sakura blinked and started walking towards him. He was stood with two Chunin, she could only tell by the vests and they might've been Jonin but they looked a bit young, having what appeared to be a none to friendly conversation, given the dark looks on their faces and the anger burning in Naruto's Sharingan eyes.

Before they even got close things kicked off. Naruto punched one of the two Chunin in the stomach, the other came to his comrades defence and Naruto was forced on the defence, but he countered easily and sent the second Chunin down into the dirt, stomping on his head. The first rose and charge and Naruto ducked between his legs, tripping him up while he was down there.

Sakura and Team 10 stopped and watched, part of them wondering if they should get involved, or if they should just pretend ignorance, or maybe if they should find an authority figure.

"FUCK YOU BRAT!" one of the Chunin roared, his hands flying through seals.

Naruto responded in kind, flicking through the seals Dragon, Tiger and Har… and that was as far as he got before he, and the Chunin as well, were eating dirt. Stood above, and on top, of them were three masked ANBU, the cold porcelain masks revealing nothing.

A fourth stood in the centre of the three, but looked at none of them in particular "Hokage-sama would like to speak with you all" he told them "That is not a request" he then confirmed in case anyone was under any illusions "We will take you to him."

There was a flicker and then there was nothing, all seven of them were gone.

Ino and Choji shared a worried look, Sakura stared at the spot where Naruto had been, and Shikamaru asked the question they were all on some level or another wondering "What the hell was that all about?"

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Kakashi entered into the Hokage's office to the sound of shouts.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH BRAT!" roared one of the Chunin, struggling against the grip of the ANBU he was held by. His comrade stood alone by his side, not at all as angry as his companion, scared if anything.

"YOU WANNA GO YOU FUCKING SHIT!" Naruto was also being restrained, only he was kicking at his ANBU 'handler'. The ANBU didn't move, didn't wince, didn't do anything to indicate anything whatsoever, Naruto may as well be kicking a statue for all the reaction he got.

"FUCK YOU BRAT, I SWEAR I GONNA…" if that Chunin didn't shut up Kakashi was going to shut him up, preferably with a kunai through his gob.

"BRING IT ON SHIT STAIN, I'LL FUCK YOU UP SO BADLY YOUR GRANDKIDS'LL FEEL IT!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" the Hokage banged his fist on the table. It didn't crack but the bang sounded loud and clear. His voice was louder and clearer. And lo and behold they all shut up, and all calmed down… a bit at least.

The ANBU released the three and let move to stand before their leader, a clear gap between the two and the one, while the ANBU disappeared ready and waiting should they be needed.

The Third Hokage glowered at the three ninja before him, Kakashi was noticed but not included "I expect a certain level of professionalism from my shinobi. These rules are lax, of course, I do not expect you to be mindless drones or silent guardians. But for three of my ninja to start a fight in the middle of the street, that is unacceptable. You will explain your reasons…" no one spoke "NOW!"

Naruto gritted his teeth "They said I killed Sasuke" he said out loud "They said I killed him to take his eyes. They said I was just a monster who murdered his own teammate. They said they wished I died instead. They said I was just a demon who didn't deserve to live…" he scowled "And I hit them."

The Hokage turned his steely cold gaze on the Chunin "Is this true?"

Their fists were shaking from fear, for being in front of the Hokage at this moment was truly terrifying, but they managed to both answer "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"I see" the elderly man leaned back, his fingers forming a steeple as he considered the matter "The first punch was thrown by you, Naruto, correct?"

"Yes, old… Hokage."

'_Old Hokage… Probably the best I will ever get from him' _Hiruzen mused, but now wasn't the time for that "And you two moved the battle towards ninjutsu, no?" he turned his gaze to the Chunin.

"I began the hand seals for the Torrent Flame Jutsu, sir."

"Then tell me, how exactly did this… interaction began" he kept his gaze on the Chunin, making sure it was known who he wanted to answer.

"We…" one of the Chunin shook his head "I… started the… the interaction."

"What did you say?"

"I… called him a monster" to his credit, even though he did shiver and flinch, he admitted such a thing. He didn't lie. He stood, perhaps not strongly and proudly, but he stood before his leader and confessed.

Kakashi still wanted to make him hurt, just a little, maybe a bit more than a little.

"I see… and did you break my law?"

"I…" the Chunin glanced at Naruto, who didn't look at them but was instead glowering away to the left "I don't know, Hokage-sama" he admitted.

The aged Hokage rubbed at his forehead "Even though Naruto threw the first punch you began the argument and provoked him. You are also Chunin, he is a Genin, you are his superior and should act as such. Yet you have proven here to be nothing more than his equal, if that."

They both nodded, accepting but certainly not pleased.

"Naruto" he turned to the blonde "You attacked a superior officer. Provoked or not this cannot be accepted."

Naruto also nodded, though it was clear he didn't agree either.

The Hokage sighed as he looked at three of his ninja "I have nothing more to say. All of you go" he told them, waving his hand to shoo the off. The disappointment in his voice made it worse for the two Chunin, something about that disappointment bit at them in the heart of their being.

Naruto didn't care, still angry.

Kakashi grabbed the blonde's shoulder and led him away, but before he left he and the Hokage shared a glance, and with that glance Kakashi understood and nodded. He and Naruto needed to love a long and serious talk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For a while they just sat there, on the soft and pleasant grass of the training ground. Kakashi flipped through his book idly, Naruto plucked at some of the grass. Of course Kakashi wasn't really reading his book, instead he was observing Naruto quite closely. There were a few injuries on him, a scrape, a busted lip, that was all, in fact those two Chunin seemed more beat up than this Genin.

Briefly Kakashi wondered if he should be proud of that.

"You wanna tell me about it?" he said suddenly.

Naruto blinked, then scowled "No" he muttered darkly.

"I see" Kakashi said ambiguously.

A pause stretched on into a silence and finally Naruto sighed "I just…" he began "I just got so angry, like…" he rubbed at his forehead. He wasn't too sure himself what had gone on, their words had angered him and then he attacked them, but he wasn't sure when his anger had gotten so had that he was willing to attack "I don't know."

"Anger is a dangerous friend Naruto" Kakashi told him sagely "It can make you blind to all reason, and stupid in the face of danger, but it can make you strong where before you were weak."

"Right" whether Naruto took in the wise advice he had been given Kakashi wasn't sure.

"Is that all? You got angry and attacked them?"

"That… yeah" he confessed "The things they said… that… that I killed Sasuke" Naruto's teeth clenched "It just made me so mad… so very mad… because… because I… think…"

"Because you think it might be true."

Naruto's hands clenched into fists, his hair shadowed his downturned face, and his body was wracked by shaking that shivered up his spine.

Kakashi sighed, soft and sad, and lowered his book, facing his student directly "If I tell you it's not you won't believe me, I know that much Naruto. Now I don't know the words to comfort you, I don't even know if comfort is what you need right now, but if there's anything I can do, anything at all, then I will do it Naruto. Just ask."

He said nothing, and Kakashi sighed again.

He had seen it, he had seen it often recently, more and more often when he looked into Naruto's eyes he saw that same darkness he had seen in Sasuke, and it worried him.

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Kakashi's body finally gave in, after several long hours, and he collapsed, his scarred eye closing, cutting off the chakra the Sharingan was rapidly draining. How Naruto could keep going with it active all the time was beyond him. Naruto had more chakra than he did, four times as much, but that should only mean that he could keep going four times as long, and while Kakashi wasn't as energetic as he was in his youth he could still boast to an hours use of the Sharingan.

This was ignoring any other chakra output of course, if he was fighting, making clones, or using jutsu then the time was cut down significantly. And somehow Naruto used it all the time, fighting, clones and jutsu included.

"You're pushing yourself hard Kakashi" Guy complimented with his usual youth and vigour "But be careful not to burn out, the flames of youth need to burn strong and long" he smiled, his teeth glinting in the sunlight… moonlight? Yeah, it was moonlight. Kakashi hadn't realised the sun had set and the moon had risen.

He didn't bother with a retort, more focused on catching his breath.

A month had passed since they had returned to the village, and if Kakashi chose to they would be starting on missions again tomorrow. Kakashi wasn't sure his team was ready yet. It wasn't that they weren't skilled enough, they had improved in leaps and bounds, even though it had only been a month, it was that they might not be ready on a mental level.

Sakura had yet to see any major physical improvements in terms of speed or strength, but her stamina, or perhaps her willpower given that sometimes she seemed to keep moving on that and that alone, was increasing nicely. She would never match Naruto, or even Kakashi, in terms of charka and stamina, but she was no longer as quick to tire as she had been, and considering just how bad she had been before, she was doing superbly.

She'd learnt two genjutsu, and given that they had had less than six days of training that was a remarkable feat. They weren't particularly complex genjutsu, but they were useful. Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique was one of them, and there was some strange humour in teaching her a genjutsu that had so horrified her during the bell test, and a darker humour in teaching her a technique that had showed her Sasuke dying.

The reports he'd received from the hospital, while frigid due to the manner with which Kakashi had secured the training, were also very complimentary. Her memory, her sharp intellect, and her charka control were all points of praise, even though she had yet to start learning actual medical ninjutsu and was instead learning more basic first aid measures.

And getting all the training she needed in them from the variety of injuries Naruto would pick up by the end of the day, whenever she trained with her team Sakura would at the end patch up Naruto, though whether it was for the experience of for her teammate Kakashi didn't know.

Naruto and Sakura were a difficult matter. Sometimes they seemed to get on just fine, like nothing had changed, though Sakura no longer hit him and Naruto no longer asked for a date every ten seconds, or at all, and other times the gap that Sasuke had filled seemed like a giant abyss between them.

Given the infrequency of their interactions however, Kakashi couldn't establish a good idea of their actual relationship as it was currently. But there was a certain awkwardness between them, even when they were getting along, like neither were sure how to interact with each other anymore, or like both were looking for the person who was no longer there maybe.

Unlike Sakura, Naruto had seen great results from his physical conditioning. His speed was increasing nicely despite the short amount of time, his strength hadn't really been worked upon and so hadn't seen much improvement, but he was quickly gaining style and poise in taijutsu, unlike the all-out brawler attack he used to favour. He still liked to be on the offensive, and wasn't afraid to get down and dirty, but it was no longer as unrefined as it had been.

His stamina had probably had something to do with his accelerated results, able to train longer and harder than Sakura, and thus achieve more noticeable results.

He was also learning jutsu rapidly, and had managed to pick up five more in the month they had been training. Given that Naruto had learned two in the first days of training that might not seem like much, but Kakashi had managed to shift Naruto's focus onto how to use the jutsu instead of simply learning numerous jutsu, by telling Naruto that he wouldn't teach him another until Kakashi was satisfied with how he used them.

This tended to involve Kakashi letting him copy the jutsu… of course he had to copy and dodge if he could, more often than not he would copy and get hit, and then he was tasked with hitting Kakashi with his new jutsu thus learning how and when to use them as well as refining his usage.

A small amount of time had been spent on recognising genjutsu, but with the superior visual power of the Sharingan it wasn't really necessary. The people who could use genjutsu on a level that could fool the Sharingan were opponents that Naruto wasn't ready to face, and being able to break their genjutsu wouldn't help him, not against an opponent of that level.

He was also schooling Naruto on tactics and strategy, mainly by putting Naruto in a situation where he was forced to use his brain or lose. Needless to say there were a lot of losses. But he was getting better, he'd never be a master strategist that was for certain, but Naruto could come up with a decent on the fly strategy. The strategy he had used against Zabuza when Kakashi had been captured in the water prison showed him that much, now it was just a case of honing that ability.

On the whole Kakashi was very proud of his team's progress.

His own progress however… was not so satisfactory.

He was a sharply honed blade, he always had been, even against Zabuza he was still sharp, not as sharp as he had been, but sharp all the same. And trying to sharpen and already sharp blade was difficult. Guy was a good workout, giving his muscles something to complain about of an evening, but Kakashi wasn't feeling any results from the training and results was what he was after.

Just like his two students he wanted instant results. Perhaps that was why he couldn't bring himself to blame them for their impatience.

It didn't help that he knew Guy's methods, as well as Guy knew his, and so his mind wasn't being put to the test while his body was.

This would've made him increasingly snappy, but thankfully Guy was there as an outlet for his aggressions, an outlet that would hit back twice as hard but an outlet all the same, and besides it was good motivation.

Kakashi slumped on the ground, unable to get up and unable to keep himself on his hands and knees any longer "Damn" he murmured to himself "Went a bit too far this time" Guy didn't look in much better shape, he was still standing but looked far more injured, where Kakashi was less injured but more exhausted "Guy, do me a favour" but Guy was still walking around unlike Kakashi "Go check on Naruto would you? He should be at the Third Training Ground. If he's unconscious take him back to his apartments, it's…" Kakashi paused "Where the hell is it?" after remembering where it was and giving over directions to the youthful shinobi, who quickly ran off to fulfil his injured friends request with a shout of "YOUTH!", Kakashi decided now would be a good time to fall unconscious.

The hypocrisy of worrying about his students burning out when he was training with just as much intensity wasn't lost on him, he just chose to ignore it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Their first mission as Team 7 without Sasuke was undramatic and over rather fast to be honest. With a fence to paint and three brushes Naruto immediately created three clones who got to work while standing waiting in front of Kakashi, after a moment Sakura joined him, uncertain as to whether or not she should.

"Alright" he had relented "I got some stuff we can do here."

And they'd done some light training while Naruto's clones worked. Afterwards they collected the pay and Kakashi picked missions that Naruto's Shadow Clones would make easy to finish, picking up litter, gathering herbs, cleaning graffiti off of the Jonin Standby Station walls, that sort of thing, then while the clones dealt with that they went off and trained. Once done they collected payment, Kakashi had picked enough missions to pay their bills for the week, they went back to training.

A Shadow Clone of Kakashi headed off into the woods with Sakura, while the real one stuck with Naruto.

And that was where they were now.

"You're not doing badly" Kakashi told her, watching her progress on the next of the genjutsu he planned to teach her "But the illusion is still imperfect. Too many visible cracks Sakura."

"I know" she said, breathing heavily "I know" she repeated, her voice like her head downcast.

"It's a pretty advanced technique" he reminded her "And Genjutsu is not the easiest art to learn. I'm surprised you've gotten as far as you have."

"But not far enough" Sakura said, standing up and flicking through hands seals "Naruto's so much further ahead of me."

He let out a bark of laughter "Sakura" he said, still chuckling "comparing yourself to Naruto is silly, you're entirely different people learning entirely different skills. And more to the point" he voiced gained a serious edge "before you started training Naruto was already miles ahead of you" Sakura winced "And with those eyes that distance will only increase and increase, faster than you can go at full pelt" she looked at the ground as he explained "The Sharingan is like a cheat, with it any two bit Genin is worth a good Chunin. It's the same for just about all bloodline users. They're on a level above the rest with skills that are nigh on impossible to counter simply because no one has encountered them before" he locked eyes with Sakura, forcing her to look up "Naruto now has that cheat" he said using air quoting 'cheat' "but you're just Sakura Haruno."

Sakura felt like sensei had just punched her and her head fell, her eyes locked with the dirt, but when she felt his hand on her head and looked up she found him smiling down at her, not a mocking smile, or a teasing smile, or even a unconcerned smile, but a genuine smile "And you know something, Sakura, you're growing stronger far faster than I thought you would. The people at the hospital tell me that the progress you've shown in the art is phenomenal. Even though you don't have a bloodline, even though you don't have the stamina of a hundred men, your own mind, your own will, is driving you at a pace no one else could match. If Naruto were to train in the same things you do, I reckon he'd take twice as long to be even a quarter as good."

She felt tears build in her eyes at his words, she had been so unhappy with her progress, she felt like she was walking at a snail's pace, but in reality she had… Sakura wiped away her tears "Thank you, sensei" she told him, bowing respectfully.

"Anytime Sakura… and I mean that" he only whispered the last part, but she heard him "Sakura" he spoke loud and clear all of a sudden "can I ask you a question?" Sakura frowned but nodded. Why would Kakashi-sensei ask for permission? "What drives you? I mean what drives you to keep improving, what drove you to become a medic ninja, what drove you when you were on your last legs during your fifth lap but still kept going for the full twenty? If you don't know that's fine, but if you do I'd like to know… only if you want to tell me, of course."

Sakura sat down by a tree as she considered the question, sensei leant against the tree next to her, he was reading his book but she knew he would hear every word and pay uttermost attention to her words "I…" but she wasn't sure what her words were going to be "I… I guess, its cause I thought that… maybe, if I had known medical ninjutsu, I could've saved Sasuke" she began with what drove her to pick the path of a medical ninja "Maybe it was because I didn't want to have to go through that again instead" she frowned but moved on "I… what motivates me, and keeps me going, is… it's the fact that I never want to be there again. I never want to watch a teammate die, ever again. I kept thinking to myself, maybe if I'd been a bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit more useful, maybe I could've saved Sasuke, maybe I could've done something, died in his place if nothing else."

Those weren't words Kakashi wanted to hear, but he knew they were true and wouldn't fault her for speaking truly, even though he never wanted to hear such things from his own team, his own students, his own personal bundles of annoyance and tribulation, his Genin.

"I…" Sakura bit her lip "It was my fault. If only I'd…" tears built again, and not good, happy and reassured tears, bad tears of agony, loneliness and suffering "Sasuke's death was my fault."

Kakashi nodded slowly "I feel the same" for a second Sakura felt again like she had been punched, until he continued "I feel like it was my fault. I was the Jonin, you were my Genin, Sasuke's wellbeing was my responsibility, and he died, under my care. Surely that's my fault? No question, right?"

"But you were fighting Zabuza and…"

"And let him get away long enough to cleave one of my students in two. If I'd defeated him before that, if I'd stopped him before he approached Sasuke and Naruto, if I'd killed him the first time around instead of getting caught like an imbecile, then Sasuke wouldn't have died" he looked Sakura in the eye "And Naruto feels the same too. If only I were faster, I could've dodged on my own. If only Sasuke hadn't pushed me out of the way. If only he hadn't taken the blow for me. It's my fault Sasuke died."

Sakura felt wetness on her cheeks and realised that, at some point she had started crying freely, tears pouring out of her eyes.

"We all feel the same, we all free we're to blame, and we all won't listen when anyone tells us it's not our fault" Kakashi patted Sakura on the top of her pink head "And we've all turned that despair into determination, using it to drive us instead of letting us suffocate us. And you know who I'm proudest of for that Sakura? You" Sakura blinked "I have experience with this sort of… this sort of shit" it wasn't his habit to use expletives around his students but, but he wanted to swear and so he would "Naruto has something he has to accomplish, and a constant reminder staring him in the face every time he looks at his reflection. What do you have? You don't have my experience, you don't have Naruto's inherited ambition, all you have is your own will to help you, and now look at you. A trainee medic ninja, a girl taking her ninja duties more seriously than her love life, Sakura you have changed from a little girl playing ninja into a splendid young kunoichi in such a short space of time, and I'm proud of you."

The tears were back, the happy reassured tears "I have another goal" she mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Another goal, something I want to do. I've only just decided it, or only just realised it, but…" she looked up at him with green eyes blazing in determination "I'm gonna help Naruto. I'm gonna help him achieve Sasuke's ambition. I can't do it for him, so I'll help him out. Naruto's goal is my goal, I've decided that."

He smiled, almost uncertain how to take it. It was good, in a way. Sakura was putting aside any blame she held for Naruto, if she held any anymore and hadn't piled it all on top of herself, and though he worried she might be trying to replace Sasuke with Naruto he couldn't help but be glad for it. At the same time, with Naruto's own path…

"Sakura, let's take a break" he ignored her slightly teasing 'We're we not already' and stood "There's something I want you to see" he led her through the woods, keeping as quiet as possible, silent as church mice, until they reached the central clearing where Naruto and the real Kakashi stood.

Sakura watched his training with interest "Left" Naruto hit with his left fist, attacking the training pad on Kakashi's arm "Right" and now with his right "Block" and Kakashi struck with a training pad clad arm, hitting Naruto in the centre of his solid guard in front of his face.

Kakashi, Sakura noted, was still managing to read his book, despite having training pads strapped to both arms, despite Naruto's continued, and prompted, assault on them and the shuddering jerking movements of his hand when the pads took the blow, he was at least attempting to read.

"Right, left, block, left, right, block, block, right, left, block, block" and so the training continued without pause "Right, right, right, block" and continued "Left, left, left, block" and continued "Right, left, block" and it was at that moment in the routine that Kakashi kicked Naruto's legs out from under him.

"Ow" Naruto grumbled, his butt stinging where it had hit the dirt with no small amount of force. He struggled up, got back into position and they started again.

"Left, right, block, right, left, block…"

"Awareness training" Kakashi spoke from above, his voice came from above he wasn't actually above her, it's just that she was no more than half his height "I'm teaching him to remain aware even when a battle gets monotonous. Get him into the rhythm, let him attack, and when he least expects it attack in a way he wasn't expecting, strike, or dodge, when he was he was supposed to strike. Once I did absolutely nothing, no tricks, and you could practically see him drift away, paying attention to nothing but my voice. The next day I told him the exact opposite of what I was doing, and sometimes I did the opposite of the opposite of the opposite of that. He didn't drift away that day, and he still got a bloody nose. Battles can get monotonous" he explained "Strange as it seemed the bloody fight for survival is not always super exciting, sometimes it's just trading blows back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and then, having got into the theme of back and forth, they come forth when you were expecting them to go back and they stick you with a kunai."

"I see."

"Do you?" he asked, curious as to whether or not she truly did. It looked simple, but… "Soon enough we'll be doing training like this and you'll come to realise just how tricky it actually is."

"I…" Sakura flushed a little, feeling embarrassed at what was perceived as, and indeed might've been, arrogance on her part "I understand, sensei. I will reserve my opinion until I experience it personally, I promise."

"Good girl" he ruffled her hair, and unlike all the times he'd done it before, before the death of Sasuke, she didn't seem that bothered by it "But that wasn't what I want you to see" Sakura blinked and looked back at the scene "Look at Naruto's face" he told her "Not the eyes in particular, but the face more generally."

For a good while Sakura stared, then looked to Kakashi, who prompted her to answer with a slight questioning widening of his eye, like raising an eyebrow to anyone else "Its… serious. He isn't messing around" which was unusual. The Naruto she knew was the number one messerupperer, always grinning, always cheerful. She hadn't spoken to him a lot recently, and while when he did smile it wasn't as bright as it used to be, it wasn't non-existent either and made regular appearances.

"Yep. Serious" Kakashi agreed, leaning his back against the tree "This is all he does you know. He trains from about six or so in the morning, until about nine at night. The only reason he wakes up in his own bed instead of at the training grounds is because I take him there. And I'm worried about him."

"Why?" Sakura blinked at her own question, wasn't it obvious why? But soon enough reasons emerged from her mind and then her mouth "I mean, he's training hard but… maybe he needs to, so that he doesn't think about… stuff. I can understand that, I've worked myself into unconsciousness before" technically she had been reading herself into unconsciousness, not stopping to think, but it was similar "and I don't like having time to think."

"I thought so too" Kakashi agreed, watching the training between Naruto and the original with a sad eye "But now… now I'm afraid" Sakura blinked, yet again. Kakashi-sensei, afraid? It didn't sound likely, he had been unafraid facing off against Zabuza, whose simple killing intent made Sakura want to kill herself to end it but she couldn't because she was frozen in terror "I'm afraid that Sasuke's will has been passed onto Naruto. And we're not thinking of the same things. Naruto's promise is not irrelevant, but when I was talking about Sasuke will I was talking about… about the darkness inside of Sasuke. The anger, the rage, the hate. Itachi, Sasuke's brother, he did something unspeakable and then he bragged about it in front of his younger brother who had always idolised and admired and loved him."

Sakura gulped. The story of Sasuke's revenge was not one she knew in full, but she knew bits of it and the more she learned the more disgusted she was, and the more hatred she felt towards Itachi Uchiha. And if this was what she, a mere bystander, felt then what was Sasuke's hatred like? The thought of it scared her.

"We were all afraid, from the very start, that Sasuke would walk the path of darkness instead of bathing in the light" Kakashi told her "I was chosen as your sensei out of the hopes that I could help Sasuke, not only with his Sharingan when it awakened, but also with his emotional issues. The fact that I preached teamwork was also considered important as Sasuke's lack of meaningful bonds was worrying to everyone involved" himself, the Hokage, the Hokage's advisors and former teammates, and that was it "And I fear that when Sasuke chose to entrust his task to Naruto, he also gave Naruto his darkness" _'And Naruto has enough darkness of his own to deal with' _he didn't mention that, that would lead to questions he couldn't answer, questions that at this point in time he didn't want to answer for fear of destroying what little remained of Naruto and Sakura's friendship.

"Sasuke wasn't…"

"Sakura" he said gently, stopping her before she could even start "Sasuke was Sasuke. He was a boy who had been hurt badly, who had made it his life's goal to kill his only living relative, his own brother, and who had walked the streets filled with the corpses of his dead clan long before Konoha's ninja knew what was happening, at the mere age of eight. Sasuke was dark, on that day the light left him and he lived in darkness, but…" Kakashi smiled gently "But he died in the light. And whatever his reasons for giving Naruto the Sharingan" Obito had reasons to, reasons that Kakashi had… "Whatever his reasons" he pressed ahead "he trusted in Naruto. He believed in his teammate, truly and deeply believed. If he hadn't I doubt his passing would've been anywhere near as peaceful as it had been. He would've struggled till the end, screamed and raged. But he didn't, he just laid back and closed his eyes" Sakura held back tears at the thought of Sasuke's end "In that moment, I think the darkness on Sasuke's soul was lifted and he bathed in the light, like leaves fluttering under the sun" the leaves rustling, the sun shining, she could see it all, then the mirage was broken "Maybe I wrong. But I like to think I'm not."

"And you're worried, that while Sasuke got to bathe in the light, Naruto has opened his eyes to the darkness" all this light and darkness talk was bothering her a bit, it seemed to 'good versus evil' for her taste, but she'd go along with it. She was sure he meant negative emotions when he said darkness and positive when he said light and so mentally replaced light and darkness with positive and negative emotion, or a suitable positive or negative emotion where possible.

"Basically yeah."

"So…" Sakura shook her head, confused "What do we do?"

"That I don't know. I didn't know what to do when it came to Sasuke either, I just let it play out and hoped somewhere along the way something happened. But I can't do that with Naruto. He's one of the two students I have left, and he carries the will and the eyes of the third, and while me and you also bear Sasuke's will neither of us can compare with the burden it placed on Naruto" Kakashi sighed "Still I have a few ideas, and my first one Is just to get him to tone down his training, remind him there's something more worth living for than his ambition. So…" he eye smiled at Sakura, hoping that she would agree "…fancy helping your sensei and your teammate?" she'd be more effective than him, Naruto liked him, but his relationship with Naruto was very training oriented, and so were their conversations and interactions. Sakura on the other hand was someone his age, someone he had and possibly still did have a crush on, and someone who he likely wouldn't relate to training and would therefore be reminded that there was more than just training.

Sakura stared at the ground for a while "I…"

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"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto turned to find Sakura walking towards him. He was in the middle of perfecting his latest fire jutsu from the Uchiha scrolls, but he had time for Sakura "What's up, Sakura-chan?"

'_Sakura-chan? Maybe sensei was worried for nothing' _she held back a smile "I was thinking of grabbing something to eat on the way home. Wanna come with?"

Naruto considered it for a moment _'Dinner with Sakura-chan… or training… hmmm' _"Sorry Sakura-chan" he apologised "I really wanna get this jutsu down. Maybe some other time."

Sakura smiled darky "Na-ru-to" she said, pronouncing each syllable separately "Let's. Go. Get. Dinner." not giving him the opportunity to turn her down again she grabbed his arm and dragged him.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, wha-OW! Don't pinch there, it hur… Sakura-chan, why can I feel my arm? Sa-Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan! SAKURA-CHAN!"

The training grounds were soon empty as Sakura continued dragging Naruto away, but though empty they weren't silent, for long "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Kakashi fell from his perch on a nearby branch with laughter. Which wasn't a good idea as the fall actually kinda hurt, but it was so funny "I, haha, I wasn't, hahahaa, expecting her to be so" he covered his mouth to hold back the laughter "forceful… ahahahahahahahahaaa… haha… ah, that was a good laugh. Haven't laughed like that in ages" if anyone could see the 'hip' and 'cool' Kakashi right now they'd swear they were in a genjutsu. Luckily no one had and his reputation was safe... which wasn't saying much as while widely respected for his skill his personality left much to be desired in the eyes of his comrades. His 'hip' and 'cool' personality that is.

He chuckled again.

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"You and Sakura seem to be getting along well" Kakashi noted to the blonde after the two had arrived and split. They had arrived together, so either they met up along the way or…

"Sakura dragged me out for breakfast" Naruto said, somewhere between a whine and a 'sort of happy' statement.

Kakashi chuckled.

That was good, very good. Even though she'd only been at it for two weeks Sakura had made a vast improvement in Naruto. He was lightening up, Kakashi doubted he would ever be the same but he was no longer so serious all the time. He was still serious during training, but with Sakura dragging him off after training he wasn't spending so long in this serious mode.

Also Sakura had taken up the unusual habit of…

"She keeps giving me books" Naruto definitely was whining this time "A whole stack of them, and she wants me to read them all through, in a week. And afterwards she even quizzes me on them, it's awful."

"Now, now" Kakashi said, hiding his amusement "Books are good for you Naruto. Just as your body needs training to keep it strong and healthy, so too does your mind."

Naruto groaned "Not you too."

"How are you coping?" he asked "With the reading" he clarified, not needing to look to know that a confused expression was looking up at him "A stack of books in a week is a bit much after all, especially for someone who doesn't read much in the first place."

Naruto grinned "Don't worry about that Kakashi-sensei, I'm completely covered when it comes to that" Naruto nodded proudly "You see what I do" and was keen to share his genius way of dealing with the reading "is I create a bunch of Shadow Clones and have them do it with me. I get their memories back just like you say, and like that I can get all the reading solved in a day so long as I hunker down and really get stuck in."

'_But you still haven't figured out their other use, huh?' _he wasn't worried about that though, not any more. They were going to be just fine, the both of them. Soon enough, once their limit was up, he'd take them on a mission out of the village, a nice simple one, to see how they coped given what had happened the last time they left the village on a 'simple' mission. He'd handle their problems, solve them if he could, or if he needed to, and then… and then he'd think of what to do then then "Alright Naruto, how about you show me your progress with your fire jutsu today. After that we'll get started on some more dodging and awareness training."

Naruto grinned "Got it sensei, check this. Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu!"

Kakashi smiled as Naruto showed him his newly accomplished Fire Jutsu. This was good, this was something more like what Team 7 had been, the darkness that hung over them all had lifted, they trained for a reason but that reason would not determine their lives. Things were looking bright and sunny, and even though the rain clouds had only just broken he was hopeful for the future.

If things continued like this, then everything would be alright.

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"Sasuke Uchiha's death changes things."

Hiruzen didn't react to the words of his former teammate, merely kept staring out over the village in the moonlight. A few lights shone around shops or in windows, but for the most part it was dark, lit only by pale white moonlight.

"Hiruzen… perhaps it is time we reveal the truth?"

"No" he said without hesitation "Our agreement was clear, and while we have failed part of that it still stands."

"But…"

"Unless we can give him back what we made him take then we will not break this agreement by choice" he told them sternly. They had had this discussion twice before, worded differently, but the same discussion and it would go the same way.

"That doesn't change the fact that Sasuke Uchiha is dead" the other, and only woman of group, said sternly.

"No, it does not" with that he agreed, that and that alone. What she was implying he gave no indication as to whether he agreed or not.

"Hiruzen…"

"The matter is settled" he said decisively, ending the conversation "If you have nothing else to say then you know where the door is. Kindly use it" the expression on their faces would've likely made him feel like the 'old bastard' he was occasionally told that he was, by Naruto or Konohamaru mostly, so he didn't turn around to look.

Offended, Koharu and Homura took their leave without another word "Hokage-dono" and were replaced by another whom he was even less pleased to see.

"Danzo" this time he did turn around, moving to calmly sit behind his desk as the equally elderly man stood before him. He waited, not asking the question to betray his impatience but waiting instead. It was a game they both played but neither enjoyed, it was fought solely for the sake of their stubbornness and pride.

Danzo broke the silence, and lost the game, and was direct as usual "Enter Team 7 into the Chunin exams."

Hiruzen couldn't help but let his shock at the sudden demand show for a moment, but quickly covered it with a stern countenance "That decision lies with Kakashi, not me" he said simply, mind racing at why Danzo would ask for such a thing "It is unlikely that he will, placing his students in a risky situation so soon after he has lost one" he shook his head "Either way, I have no say in the matter."

"You have every say" Danzo corrected him, taking up his former position staring out of the window at the village, standing in such a place that Hiruzen would have to turn to face him.

He didn't however, merely kept staring forwards, waiting for Danzo to continue.

"Konoha has lost the Sharingan" Danzo began simply "The hope of a revived Uchiha clan and their famed eyes have been dashed. This will be seen as weakness, Hokage-dono" Hiruzen didn't argue, such things had gone through his mind as well "Our enemies will jump upon this chance" he would like to argue with this, as Danzo saw enemies in everyone, including the village they were charged with protecting, but he didn't "Give them something else to talk about, give them a second Copy Ninja Kakashi, a name still feared, and talking of him, of Naruto Heir of the Sharingan, will last until the last death of the Uchiha clan will be a mere memory. A notable one… but a memory all the same."

"So…" Hiruzen said ponderously "… in order to make Konoha seem strong you would paint a target on the back of one of your Genin, would you?"

Danzo didn't respond.

"I won't allow it Danzo, even if Kakashi were to ask for his team to be entered, I would deny him."

"Even if Uzumaki were defended?"

Their eyes met briefly, before the Hokage faced forwards and Danzo turned his gaze back to the village "Speak plainly Danzo, I have little patience as of recently" being inundated with complaints about Naruto and his possession of the Sharingan for the past few months, on top of all his normal work, had grated on his nerves, and while Hiruzen Sarutobi might have the patience of a boulder, even boulders could be worn down with time and persistence. And boy had they been persistent.

Danzo nodded, and though Hiruzen couldn't see it he knew the man had done so, and Danzo knew that he had known "There is a ninja that I… know about" the way he said 'know about' left little doubt in Hiruzen's mind just how Danzo knew about this particular ninja "he is about the right age, and skilled. No Chunin would be able to handle him, and most Jonin would struggle."

"And? What is his official rank, as a ninja you 'know about'?" he tried to keep the mocking tone out of his voice, but didn't altogether succeed, as evidenced by the flat look Danzo gave him.

"He is a Genin" or would be by the time he checked Hiruzen suspected, or perhaps he already was, but while records would exist and no one would be able to say they were false, no one would have any memory of the ninja in question.

"Name?"

"Sai" there was no pause, no hesitation in giving that name, but even so the aging Hokage had to wonder if Danzo had come up with that name right then and there. It was unlikely, he'd probably come up with it a few days prior, maybe a week or so, but he doubted it was the boys original name, if he even had one.

Hiruzen stood and moved so that he was stood beside his former rival "Every complaint I have… you have an argument to counter it, don't you, Danzo?" Danzo said nothing, but his lips twitched "I see…" they stood in silence for a while watching the village.

Danzo was the Shinobi of Darkness, darkness was where he operated best, and the things such operations dealt with were better off never seeing the light of day. Hiruzen was the light to that darkness, he bathed in the light of the village, the things he did were spoken of with pride, the battles he fought retold over and over.

Perhaps he was lenient because of their friendship and rivalry, with Danzo's ever sharpening skills forcing Hiruzen to sharpen his own. He would likely not be the ninja he was today without Danzo hounding at his back, pushing him on. Perhaps he was lenient because he couldn't bear to do the things Danzo did, and so rather than take responsibility for them he let someone else take over, unofficially and technically treasonous though such actions may be. Perhaps he was lenient because, though his methods were twisted, Danzo did genuinely do what he felt was best for the village.

What he thought was best might not invoke agreement in Hiruzen, but he could at least respect the sentiment, and whenever he felt his respect decline he remembered all those times when the scales would be inexplicably tipped in Konoha's favour and wondered to himself how many of those times it was Danzo and how many times it was simply chance.

And Danzo was also correct that giving the world Naruto Uzumaki, making him Sasuke's heir, the next Sharingan Kakashi, would strengthen Konoha's damaged reputation. It might not repair the damage but it would certainly help.

Putting Naruto in that sort of danger, so soon, was not something Hiruzen would relish, though he had few doubts the boy would thrive those few doubts would niggle at the edge of his mind, eventually wearing away his confidence. But with a skilled and frankly overly powerful ninja at Naruto's side, who had the added benefit of not being obnoxiously out of place, his fears would be thwarted, for the most part.

Kakashi might be angry, but eventually he would understand, and it would be a good learning experience for them. Both Naruto and Sakura would benefit, or else they would break. But Kakashi, who had reported to him a few times on his student's wellbeing, seemed assured that his students had turned their despair into determination.

"Bring him here tomorrow" Hiruzen said suddenly, speaking calmly and evenly "This 'Sai', bring him here and I will summon Kakashi. Kakashi will have the right to test Sai and following that, if he is suitably impressed, I will force his hand on the matter" there was another twitch of Danzo's lips, a simple hint of his satisfaction and his glee at Hiruzen's capitulation "However, the decision will be Naruto and Sakura's, as it is for all Genin. I will not force them."

That blunted his satisfaction, but Danzo nodded at the fair terms "I understand" he said, moving away from the window "Then Hokage-dono" and with a simple dismissive wave from the Hokage, he took his leave.

Hiruzen sat heavily at his desk, feeling his age as he had been doing a lot recently. He considered again the very real possibility of retiring, but also knew that first he needed a worthy candidate to take up his post, worthy and willing _'Perhaps, after the Chunin exams, I will broach the subject' _he mused.

"Perhaps…" he mused out loud, frowning for a moment in thought "…ha, perhaps indeed" he frowned and considered it more deeply "Yes" he decided out loud "Yes" he pulled a blank scroll from his desk and located a brush and ink and began work _'Perhaps I should make another investment in the future of our village.'_

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"Yo, guys" Kakashi arrived at the Third Training Ground with a bright eye smile that concealed the annoyance he felt.

Yesterday, midway through training, he had been summoned away. That wasn't what annoyed him though, the reason why he was summoned was what annoyed him. His Genin where being entered in the Chunin Exams held next month, his two Genin who were only just recovering from the pain of losing a teammate would now be forced into a situation where the same thing could happen again, and for what, for Konoha to be seen as strong, for a target to be neatly painted on the back of Naruto's orange jacket, with that spiral the fucking bulls eye!

Kakashi, was not happy… and soon enough his team wouldn't be either, though for different reasons.

His two Genin stared up at him, waiting for instructions, but also confusedly looking to the left of Kakashi "Listen up, it's been decided that this here will be your new teammate" he gestured to the young, pale skinned youth stood next to him "Naruto and Sakura, this is Sai, Sai, this is Naruto and Sakura. Get along well."

They both looked confused for a while, but anger quickly settled in over Naruto's features, showing his unhappiness at the situation, which was to be expected, whereas a clear dislike of the idea warped Sakura's face.

This wasn't going to be easy, and the altogether too chirpy smile Sai gave them wasn't helping, an entirely fake smile and all.

A declaration he had voiced yesterday, in front of the Hokage no less, Kakashi repeated again in his mind _'Sai, if you let either of my students die, I swear I will hunt you down and make even an emotionless tool like you feel complete and utter terror. And then, I'll kill you.'_

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Well, that's chapter three done, how did you like it. Probably one more chapter, maybe even less, before we get stuck into the Chunin Exams. I'm betting some of you figured I'd stick Sai in as Sasuke's replacement, to those of you who are shocked by this... really? You didn't see that coming? Well, fair enough I guess. Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed it please review, if you spot any mistakes feel free to point them out, if you have any complaints please bring them to me and I will answer and respond as best I can.

Toodles.


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